Summer's Promise
by Mayumi Selnia
Summary: They say, "When you are in love with someone, you overlook their flaws, which results to your having a harder time of trying to hate them, despite how much they hurt you." Can the same go for Luka, who falls in love with the most popular boy? Can Gakupo do that for Luka, who has a dark and painful past? To make it worse, their love bloomed a little too late. Based on a true story.
1. Chapter 1 'Weird but Cute'

**Summer's Promise**

Chapter 1: "This looks weird, but surprisingly cute."

"Are you excited?"

"Not really, Dad," Luka answered, putting her earphones on to shut the world away.

It was the first week of summer and the sun was shining bright. With the car window by Luka rolled down and the car's speed over 100, the wind blew on her face while her hair fluttered and swayed. She closed her eyes to prevent her parents or her younger siblings from asking anymore questions about how she was doing.

Luka and her family just arrived in Japan after a 12-hour flight from the United States. Luka and her siblings were Japanese, but she was born in Tokyo and grew up in the States, where her siblings were born, because her stepfather's job required him to move there shortly after Luka was born. After 15 years of staying in the States, Luka's father was required to move back to Japan if he wanted to keep his job. Therefore, whether he or his family liked it or not, they flew to Japan after Luka's school year finished.

The pink-haired girl closed her eyes and remembered her sad goodbyes with her childhood friends.

"You're coming back, right?" Teto asked, holding both of Luka's hands up.

"I will," Luka smiled while tears fell down her cheeks.

"Pinky promise?" Teto requested as she held out her pinky finger.

"Promise," Luka replied, though her heart ached for she knew that she might never come back.

Luka and Teto had been best friends since they were in second grade in elementary. They were in the same class every year, also always on the top of the academics. They were known by a lot of people for being nice and friendly, and they were always together. Of course, that was until Luka had to leave in the summer after her first year in high school.

After they said their goodbyes, they hugged each other, not wanting to let go. They cried and sobbed their heart out even though it wouldn't really do anything.

A tear slipped from Luka's eye, dreaming of the past. Without her knowing, the car had already stopped, and they had arrived at their destination. Luka's father woke her up out of nowhere, telling her to get out of the car and take her luggage. Following her dad's orders, she grabbed her things and walked up the stairs to her room.

Since they had sent their furniture and things earlier than their date of arrival, their house had already been fixed and prepared by the workers who delivered their things. Her room was also fixed, surprisingly just the way she wanted it. The walls were a relaxing color of pale pink, her white, wooden furniture matching. The pillowcases, blanket, and bed sheets were of the same shade of pink, but a little darker. The stuffed toys had been placed on top of her bed, bookshelves, and desk, too.

Right away, Luka took out her clothes from her suitcase and organized her closet. When she opened the closet, she found her summer and winter school uniforms, all ironed and ready to use. Not wanting to accept that she was going to attend a different school after summer vacation, she quickly folded and hung her clothes in the closet to take her mind off of her problems.

Without Luka's knowing, time had passed by and she took the rest of the afternoon since she arrived at their new house to fix her closet. Before she could relax, she checked the pockets and spaces of her suitcase for anything she forgot to take out. In the back pocket, she found the picture of her with Teto on their last day as eighth-grade middle school students. Not wanting to cry anymore, Luka quickly took it out and framed it by her desk. Contented of how her desk looked, she smiled and wiped the tears that slipped once again.

"Luka, dinner's ready," her mother called from downstairs.

"I'm coming," Luka replied.

Luka ran down the stairs and hurried to the dining room, where her mother, father, and siblings awaited.

"_Itadakimasu," _the family said in synchrony, a part of their culture and tradition.

Surprisingly, Luka seemed much better from how she was earlier in the car. The family talked about plans for any vacation opportunities they have. When Rin, Luka's younger sister, asked if they were going anywhere for the summer, their father answered them with a 'No' because he and their mother were busy with their jobs.

"Why don't you all look around by yourselves?" their father kindly said, sipping some water.

"School already started here in April, so you three are going to be transfer students when school gets back after summer vacation in September, which is in a month," he explained.

"I think I'll be fine, Dad. I'm probably going to stay in the house for most of the summer since my friends from the States want to chat with me," Luka replied after chewing her food down.

"Won't the time difference be hassle? Just don't do it! You'd have to stay up all night," their mother protested.

"I'll be fine, Mom. I'm still not used to the time difference anyways, so I probably won't be able to sleep at night," Luka countered.

Dinner ended and they all decided to watch a movie in the living room together. Even though they were all Japanese, they still lived like Americans in a Western house. They all spoke fluent Japanese, but they spoke English at home. They watched American movies, sometimes Japanese.

After the movie ended, they all said their goodnights and walked to their own bedrooms. Everyone was tired, except for Luka, who caught more sleep in the car-ride from the airport. Luka put her pajamas on and got on the computer to try and contact her friends. She got on her social website and messaged a few of them, her boredom getting to her.

"They're probably still asleep," Luka thought, looking at the US time on her desktop, which showed 12 pm.

Just before she could log out, one of her friend's chat status changed from 'Offline' to 'Online,' much to Luka's happiness. She quickly messaged her friend again, hoping her friend would reply right away.

"Hey, I miss you guys," Luka said out loud as she typed those said words.

A few seconds after Luka's message was delivered, her friend changed her status from 'Online' to 'Busy.' Luka was a little disappointed that she didn't message her friend fast enough for her to see it. Luka frowned and went back to the home page to look at her newsfeed when suddenly, a new status was posted by the friend she tried to contact.

"'Hanging out with my new best friend. Excited!'" Luka read in disappointment.

Another tear slipped out of her eye, her mind telling her that her friends didn't want to talk to her. Ignoring it, her heart said that they were probably just busy.

She immediately turned off her computer and went to bed, her mind still thinking about what happened just then.

"Yeah," she told herself.

"They were probably just busy."

The whole summer passed by and Luka was starting school in a week. To get ready, she went out by herself to buy her own school supplies. Taking her bicycle with her, Luka rode down the sidewalk to town.

"Wow. They're so cute!" Luka thought, seeing great amounts of adorable stationary and school supplies in the stationary store.

First, using the money that her parents gave her for her school supplies, she bought a brown, handheld satchel and plain white _uwabaki _slippers that were both required by her school. Then, she bought notebooks for each subject, cute pencils, and a pencil case.

"This is so cute," Luka said to herself, spotting an adorable phone charm.

Luka quickly fell in love with the keychain she found in the back of a shelf. It was a long, pink-haired _chibi_ that looked like an octopus. It looked weird to other people, but she found it adorable. Since she had already used all of the allowance that her parents gave her, Luka bought the phone charm with her own money.

"Mission accomplished, huh," Luka smiled staring at the plastic bags full of school supplies.

As she headed out of the store, her eyes still stuck on the cute things she bought, Luka ran onto a man's chest all of a sudden. She dropped her things in shock of the impact, feeling embarrassed.

"I'm so sorry. I'm really sorry," she apologized as she picked up her things, also hiding her face.

"It's okay," the man said, helping.

The shy Luka quickly ran to where she parked her bicycle as soon as she gathered all of the things she dropped. The man found a keychain on the ground, knowing that it was probably owned by the girl he bumped onto.

"Wait!" the man called back, extending his hand.

His efforts in vain, Luka quickly rode her bicycle away from the store, not turning back. Her things were on her bicycle's basket, the plastic bags' sound muffling the man's voice as the wind blew on her face.

"That was so embarrassing!" Luka thought, her cheeks red.

The man looked at the keychain once again, realizing that he wouldn't be able to catch the pink-haired girl who owned it.

"This looks weird," he said to himself, looking at the _chibi-_looking octopus.

"But surprisingly cute," he smiled as he placed it in his pocket, keeping it safe.

* * *

**Author's note:**

_itadakimasu- _doesn't really have a definite meaning, but is said before eating meals

_uwabaki- _hallway slippers used as inside slippers in Japanese schools

_chibi- _Japanese slang word for "small child" or "small person"


	2. Chapter 2: 'Yoroshiku'

**Summer's Promise**

Chapter 2: _"Yoroshiku."_

Luka sighed as she looked at the bowl of rice in front of her.

"I'm sure I dropped it there when I bumped onto that guy," Luka thought, putting food in her mouth with her chopsticks.

She quietly ate her food while her siblings, Rin and Len, argued about something worthless to Luka. Since it was almost an everyday thing, their parents just talked as if their ranting didn't exist.

"You all need to hurry up and finish your food. School starts for the three of you tomorrow. Wake up early so you won't be late," their mother lectured, stopping Rin and Len's argument before it got bigger.

"School, huh," Luka doze off.

She was the first to finish her food, paying her goodnight to the family before she headed to her bedroom.

Their house's structure was a little strange, even though it was Western. The only room upstairs was Luka's because it sat atop their garage. The master bedroom and her siblings' bedrooms were located in one area of the house, which is on the opposite side of where her room was. Luka was glad to have her room separated from where her noisy siblings were, especially since she also had her own bathroom upstairs.

After taking a bath, Luka entered her dark room with only the computer's screen as the source of light. She sat down on her desk and got on her social network account, hoping to find news from her friends back in the States. When she looked at her newsfeed, she found pictures of her old friends enjoying the school's competitive football game.

"I'm glad I got to spent 9th grade, my first year in high school, with these people," she smiled as she scrolled through the goofy pictures.

"If I was still there, I'd be a 10th grader, huh," she laughed even though she wanted to do the opposite.

"But now," she muttered.

Before tears started flowing out of her eyes, Luka closed the computer window and looked at her closet. Hanging on handle was her winter uniform, ready to be used for the next day. Even her shoes were polished on the floor, just underneath her uniform.

"I'm spending another first year in high school here."

Luka tucked herself in bed and looked at the ceiling for some time. She thought about what her friends were doing back in the States and what they would be doing if she was still there. Slowly, without her knowing, Luka's eyes closed and she had fallen asleep.

When morning came, Luka got dressed in her school uniform, a new experience for her. Since Luka was going to be a high school student, she didn't wear the famous sailor uniform, which was worn by the junior high school students. Her school uniform actually looked cuter and more formal than she expected.

First, she buttoned her white, round-collared blouse, then the long sleeves' cuffs. Then, she closed the zipper on the side of her high-waist, gathered mini-skirt that embraced her waist, showing off her curves. The skirt was a shade of cobalt blue and the column of buttons that ran down the waist area of the skirt were gold. After patting her skirt, she loosely tied the maroon ribbon around her neck under her collar. Luka put on her white, mid-thigh high socks before she put on her navy blue, cropped blazer with the school's crest on the pocket on her left chest.

While Luka brushed her voluminous, hip-length, pastel-pink hair, her digital alarm clock rang. She turned it off, realizing that her anxiety caused her to wake up earlier than the time she planned to, just hoping she wouldn't crash in school later on. Before she grabbed her satchel and headed out of her room to prepare breakfast, Luka looked at herself one last time.

"As expected of a private school," she told herself.

"I look cute and professional at the same time," Luka smiled, looking at her reflection from head to toe.

Since it was their first day at work, Luka's parents also woke up early and was already dressed up. Luka's mother made chocolate chip waffles, fried eggs, and freshly squeezed orange juice. Luka smiled to see her favorite breakfast served on her first day of school. After Luka's mother brought her cup of coffee to the table, Rin and Len arrived just in time for all of them to sit down together. While Luka ate her meal, she looked at her family and observed her surroundings.

"Maybe, it's going to be a good day after all," Luka smiled, seeing the harmony that surrounded them.

After they all finished their breakfast, their father offered them a ride to school. However, their father reminded all of them that their parents were going to be busy soon, meaning this was the last time he was going to take them to school. He also reminded them that starting the next day, they were going to start taking the train or walk to and from school. Since Rin and Len's junior high school was closer, they were the first to be dropped off in just a matter of a few minutes.

"Have fun, you two," their mother greeted, waving her hands.

As soon as they could no longer see Rin and Len, the car drove off to Luka's school next. On the way there, they passed by the stationary store where Luka bought her school supplies. Quickly, she looked at the ground to check if the keychain was there, but of course, it wasn't. After a couple of minutes, Luka had arrived at the large front gate of her school.

"Thanks for taking me, Dad," Luka said as she carefully got out of the car, shutting the door behind her.

With Luka's nervousness, she didn't notice how many students were looking at her. They all could tell that she was a transfer student because they had never seen her before. Luka's father rolled his window down before Luka could walk away from the car.

"Luka," he called, his voice deep and loud.

Luka grabbed more attention from the students around, especially because her father was a foreigner with blonde hair and white skin. The people whispered to each other, already creating false rumors and made-up stories about the transfer student.

"Good luck," Luka's father kindly smiled.

She smiled back after giving her thanks to her sweet father, feeling as if her confidence had gone up. Gracefully, Luka walked towards the school building with everyone's stares towards her. She could hear their whispers and murmurs, but because of her shy nature, she couldn't do anything to stop them but keep walking the way she was. By the time she entered the building, Luka was already the talk of the whole school.

While Luka walked down the hallways, more people stared and whispered about her.

"She's so pretty."

"Is she in first year?"

"No way! She's probably a senior, especially with her mature looks!"

On the way there, Luka passed by a group of girls that surrounded a boy as he walked the opposite way. The boy noticed Luka, especially with his tall height, but she didn't notice him, for she kept her head straight. The boy kept his eyes on her until he could no longer turn his neck to look at her. Before he could turn his body around to look at the mysterious girl more, she had already walked in to the councilor's office.

"I think I've seen her somewhere," the boy thought, pausing his walks.

"Hey, hey, Kamui-kun, you didn't answer me," a girl that held onto his arm whined, interrupting his thought.

He apologized and continued walking with the group of girls, removing the mysterious girl off of his mind. When he reached his classroom, the bell rang and the group of girls dispersed with some of them going to the classroom he was going to, and some going to the classrooms nearby.

"Popular as always, huh, Gakupo," a blue-haired boy praised.

"Don't say that. You're popular, too, Kaito," Gakupo replied as he sat down on his seat in the back.

Their teacher walked in as everyone took their seats. Their day began after greeting their teacher, the normal day proceeding.

Meanwhile, in the classroom next door, the students all goofed around with their infamous homeroom teacher, Meiko Sakine. She took the attendance, calling out each student's name in a funny way before she continued with the agenda for their homeroom period.

"Today, we have a new transfer student," she announced.

"Come on in, transfer student-chan!"

Luka, who had been listening to their rants from the other side of the classroom door, took a deep breath as she pulled the door open. She silently walked in, keeping her nervousness to herself. Luka's hands were trembling and her heart was pounding, but her stature was composed and the way she walked was poise and mature. She stopped beside the teacher, who had already written her name on the board.

"Introduce yourself," Meiko smiled, giving her a pat on the shoulder.

"_Ohayou gozaimasu, minna-san. _My name is Luka Megurine. I came from the United States. _Yoroshiku onegaishimasu," _Luka bowed.

At first the room was silent as they looked at her with their jaws hanging and their eyes widened. Then, out of nowhere, all of the boys and most of the girls started hollering and cheering, surprising Luka.

"She's so pretty!"

"Yes! A cute girl!"

"Be my girlfriend, Megurine-san!"

Luka was scared and shocked at the reactions of her new classmates towards her. She turned around to look at her homeroom teacher in hopes of getting some help or explanation of what was going on, only to get a shrug and a grin, however.

"Okay, okay! First to shut up gets to have Luka-chan sitting next to…"

Before Meiko finished her sentence, everyone had already quieted down and sat properly, like normal students.

"Them," Meiko finished, her eyes and jaw open in disbelief that her students behaved right away.

Meiko laughed at her students as she looked around for an empty seat. Luka, who was still nervous, just hoped it wasn't like that every day for the rest of the year.

"Okay, Luka-chan, you can sit over there beside Miku-chan," Meiko said, pointing at the girl with the twin tails.

Luka followed her teacher's directions and sat beside the girl named Miku in the center of the room.

"_Yoroshiku ne, _Megurine-san," the teal-haired girl smiled.

For the first time in the whole day, Luka softly smiled as she shook hands with the girl she was going to sit next to for the rest of the year.

"_Yoroshiku."_

* * *

**Author's note:**

_yoroshiku/yoroshiku ne- _"pleased to meet you/I look to you for guidance/please be kind to me"

_ohayou gozaimasu- _"good morning" (formal)

_minna-san- _"everyone" (formal)

_onegaishimasu- _"please" (formal)


	3. Chapter 3: 'Feel Better, Okay'

**Summer's Promise**

Chapter 3: "Feel better, okay?"

"Okay, for the rest of the homeroom period ends, we are discussing the upcoming school festival," Meiko announced after Luka took her seat.

"This year, we are instructed to pair up with another class. The first-year teachers drew ballots the other day and we are paired up with the class next door," Meiko continued as she wrote down the details on the chalkboard.

"_Ano, sensei," _a girl hesitantly raised her hand up.

"There are two classes beside us…so which one?"

"Huh? Oh, right! I almost forgot," Meiko laughed.

"It's that one class that has that guy and that teacher," she darkly and disgustedly continued, emphasizing 'that guy' and 'that teacher.'

Meiko tilted her head towards the chalkboard to point at the class she was talking about with a disgusted face. Her eyes were sharp and looked like she was going to murder the 'that guy' and 'that teacher' she was talking about.

"Ah! Forget it! We'll just have to work with those people then," she continued, still disgusted.

"If you have any ideas, talk about it tomorrow during homeroom. The other class will be coming here so that everyone can think together," Meiko sluggishly announced as she gathered her things.

She left without saying another word to her class as she slammed the sliding door after she exited the room.

The whole class didn't understand what happened to their teacher, but they didn't care because as soon as she left, they all got up and surrounded Luka and Miku's seats. Since they didn't have a lot of time before their next class started, they quickly asked Luka questions that she couldn't answer right away.

"Do you have a boyfriend?"

"What's your three sizes?"

"Will you be my girlfriend?"

Luka's face was blushing, not just because it was getting warm and humid with all the people that surrounded her, but mainly because she was never good at talking to people she didn't know. Luka didn't have troubles making friends in the States because that was where she grew up. She was friends with almost everyone because they all grew up together, of course. Luka never had to worry about introducing herself to other people or being the center of attention in the States. However, she knew that she had to face the reality that she was now in her birthplace, Japan.

"Megurine-san is single. Her three sizes are 90-61-89. Will she be your girlfriend? Probably not," a girl shouted out of nowhere, grabbing everyone's attention.

The girls looked shocked and started looking at themselves, intimidated by the three sizes the girl mentioned. The boys had lecherous looks on their faces, also because of the three sizes that the girl mentioned. Miku, who noticed the boys' lewd faces, panicked and stood up.

"How did you know all of those, Ia?" Miku asked, her face blushing

"_Uso yo," _the girl named Ia winked.

The boys were disappointed while the girls felt a little relieved. The boys all returned to their seats after realizing that Luka would've actually rejected them. Most of the girls also sat back down as they planned a mission to achieve the three sizes Ia mentioned.

"My name's Aria Wakusei, but everyone calls me 'Ia,' so you can call me that, too," the platinum-blonde smiled.

"Oh, and I'm Lily Masuda. Nice to meet you, Megurine-san," the golden-haired girl with Ia said.

"_W-w-watashi…_M-Megurine L-Luka _desu. _Y-you can call me 'L-Luka' i-if y-y-you want!" Luka stuttered as she forcefully introduced herself, something she had never wanted to or even done in her life.

"You don't have to be nervous, Luka-chan. We're here for you," Miku smiled.

Luka felt relieved as if a gush of wind just blew on her face. Her eyes were wide and her mouth were open in surprise to hear Miku's kind words. Luka couldn't believe that she was actually making new friends that she felt as if she was going to start crying.

"_Arigatou gozaimasu, _Hatsune-san, Wakusei-san, Masuda-san," Luka exclaimed.

The three girls laughed at Luka as they playfully scolded her for being too polite.

"We told you that you can call us by our first names, right?" Ia teased.

Luka nodded, her face blushing in embarrassment. The three girls laughed again, but Luka started laughing with them in no time. Before Luka could even realize it, her heart was beating fast, not because she was nervous, but because she was having fun.

Time passed by and the school dismissal bell rung throughout the whole school campus. Before everyone in the class left, they all gave Luka their contact information in case she needed anything. Luka was really glad that her class wholeheartedly welcomed her and treated her nicely.

"Let's go, Luka-chan," Miku called as she, Ia, and Lily waited for Luka by the door.

"Oh, yeah," Luka replied as she picked up her things.

The four of them walked down the hallway together, sharing stories and laughter. To avoid Luka from feeling restricted, they all took turns in sharing stories and asking question from each other.

As they walked to their shoe lockers by the building's main entrance, Luka noticed a poster for an academic competition. Thinking that her new friends would make fun of her if they found out she wanted to try out, Luka secretly took an application form and stuffed it immediately in her bag. After putting on their outside shoes, the four girls made their way to the train station. They all rode the same train at first, but Ia and Lily got off after two stops.

"See you tomorrow," they waved at Luka and Miku as they got off.

After another stop, Miku got off and said her goodbye to Luka. Both were happy to be friends with each other, which was clearly shown in their smiles. Luka, who got off in the next stop, cheerfully walked home with a smile on her face. The orange sunset rays shone on her gentle smile and her jolly blue eyes before it made its way for the moon and the stars.

"_Tadaima," _Luka greeted as she took off her shoes and placed them neatly by the entrance's platform.

Luka looked around downstairs, thinking nobody was home until he heard his younger brother's noises, who was playing video games.

"Did you two do your homework?" Luka loudly asked before she made her way to her bedroom.

"Yeah," her younger siblings replied in synchrony.

Luka smiled in relief and made her way to her bedroom. She quickly changed into her house clothes and got on her computer to check on her social network account, hoping to get in contact with her friends. When she opened her account to her newsfeed, Luka found a montage video of her friends after a few scrolls down.

Clicking the video, the title appeared along with a cheerful and recent pop song for the background music. She found pictures of her friends in the videos, making her feel homesick. Midway through the video, Luka found group pictures that included her. However, her face had been pixelated or blurred. Disappointed and hurt, she closed the window and wiped the tears that uncontrollably fell.

"_Mou ii,_" she muttered in tears a she lied down on her bed and cried herself to sleep.

* * *

"_Ittekimasu!" _Rin and Len exclaimed as they headed out to school.

Luka, who just finished putting on her shoes in the house's entrance, didn't pay her greeting and just left with a blank face. Rin and Len knew there was something wrong with their older sister, especially since she hasn't uttered a word.

"What's wrong, Luka-nee-chan?" Rin asked, concerned.

"Nothing," she coldly replied with her eyes off into the distance.

"Nothing? Nee-chan, you didn't eat dinner with us last night and you didn't eat breakfast either. Aren't you hungry?" Len questioned, countering his sister's reply.

Luka still didn't say anything and just kept walking in the same pace. Rin and Len also fell silent with her, especially with the awkward mood Luka was giving off. Before they even knew it, Len and Rin had arrived at their school.

"See you later, Nee-chan," Len greeted as he ran off to his new friends.

Luka kept walking without paying attention to Len's greeting. Rin, who was going to keep walking towards the gate, turned back around to look at Luka again.

"Luka-nee-chan," Rin called.

Luka stopped walking, but didn't turn around. She waited for Rin to keep talking after she called her.

"Feel better, okay?" Rin yelled, cupping her hands around her mouth to increase her voice's volume.

Luka didn't react to what Rin had said, which made the blonde feel a little sad. Rin turned around with a frown on her face, thinking that she had failed to cheer up her big sister.

"Rin!" Luka called out all of a sudden.

When Rin turned back around, Luka had a smile on her face with her shimmering blue eyes.

"_Arigatou!" _Luka shouted before she kept walking.

Rin's smile spread from cheek to cheek as she felt better about herself and for her older sister. She waved goodbye to Luka before she entered her school and grouped with her new friends. In Rin's mind, she kept hoping that her big sister's calming, friendly smile wouldn't disappear anymore.

* * *

**Author's note:**

_ano- _"umm"

_sensei- _teacher

_uso yo- _"it's a lie"

_watashi wa...desu- _"I am"

_arigatou gozaimasu- _"thank you" (formal)

_tadaima- _"I'm home"

_mou ii- _"I've had enough"

_ittekimasu- _"we're leaving"

_arigatou- _"thanks"

* * *

**_Hello, minna-san! Mayumi Selnia here! I just wanted to explain some things on here. First is Ia's name. I, personally, thought that Ia was more of an acronym or an abbreviation, so I just made it like a nickname for her in the story. Her real name in the story is Aria, taken from her name's caption: Aria on the Planetes. Also, since Ia didn't have a last name and her voice provider, Lia, also didn't have a last name, I made it up myself. 'Wakusei' is the Japanese word for planet. Obviously, I took it from her name's caption (see above). Second, Lily also didn't have a last name, so I took her voice provider's last name and used it for Lily's last name in the story. Now, who do you think are 'that guy' and 'that teacher' Meiko was talking about? Review and tune in to the next chapter for the answer! Arigatou, minna-san! :D_**


	4. Chapter 4: 'I Don't Belong Here'

**Summer's Promise**

Chapter 4: "I don't belong here."

When Luka arrived to school, she was still talked and whispered about whenever she passed by. Luka was still considered a new student that intrigued everyone, even the third-year high school students. Luka opened her shoe locker to find love letters even though it had only been her second day of school. Since she was a good person, Luka kept the letters in her bag for her to read later on and smiled in gratitude that she was accepted by the people around her.

"_Ohayou gozaimasu, _Luka-_hime-_sama_," _the boys in Luka's class lined up in two rows and greeted her as she walked in.

"_O-o-ohayou g-g-gozaimasu, minna-san! Chotto matte, 'hime-_sama_?'" _she asked, noticing the different honorific they used.

"It means 'princess,' Luka-chan," Ia greeted as she walked in with Miku and Lily to see the uproar that the boys in their class were making.

"Yes, Luka-_hime-_sama. You are our princess, and we are your knights. We'll always be here to protect you from other classes' boys. So, rest assure now, _hime-_sama!" the boys robotically said in synchrony.

Luka's face kept getting warmer and redder with all the attention she was getting, especially with all the glares she was getting from the other girls. Miku, Lily, and Ia noticed it right away because Luka started wobbling. Before they could do anything, Luka couldn't stand it any longer and lost her balance. Luckily, Miku and Ia were able to catch her before she fell to the ground, and Lily was able to grab ahold of Luka's bag.

"Luka! Are you alright?" Miku concernedly asked.

"_Hime-_sama!" the boys exclaimed when they saw their 'princess' fall.

"I-I'm alright. I just r-really can't stand a lot of attention," Luka awkwardly smiled to reassure her friends.

"_Kora!" _an unknown voice echoed from the entrance.

When the boys heard the familiar voice, they felt a cold shiver down their spine. Not wanting to, although, the boys turned to look at who it was. Due to the fear the boys had in their minds, the person by the door looked scarier than how the others see her. To the boys, her hair was sizzling fire, and her eyes and mouth were yellow and glowing like a scary, unknown creature hiding in the bushes at night. Her _ahoge, _to them, also looked like a murder weapon she could take off anytime.

"You're causing her trouble, aren't you?" the girl asked, her voice terrifying the boys.

All of the boys that were lined up for Luka started cowering when the girl slowly walked into the room. They also took steps back to get away from her.

"Sit down!" she roared.

"Yes ma'am!" the boys screamed as they all ran to their seats.

Luka was amazed at how the boys were easily tamed and bossed around by the girl that just came in. Miku, Lily, and Ia helped Luka properly stand up after watching the little show that their friend put up to save Luka from the boys' stupidities. With their friend's roar, the classroom also returned to its normality.

"You must be the transfer student," the girl smiled as she walked towards Luka.

"Oh! Umm, y-yes," Luka answered in panic, scared that the girl was going to roar at her, too.

"Wow. She's actually really pretty," Luka thought, wondering why the boys thought she looked like a scary monster.

Miki had long, red hair, and her eyes' color was similar to her hair's. She was also a little shorter than Luka and was about the same height as Miku. She also wore a large headphone with a star on each ear pad's housing around her neck.

"I'm Miki Koudo. I wasn't here yesterday, so I didn't get to meet you, but these three couldn't stop talking about you in our conversation on the phone last night," the girl named Miki giggled, embarrassing Miku, Ia, and Lily.

"I-I'm Luka M-Megurine! N-n-nice t-to meet you!" Luka said out loud in nervousness.

"No need to panic, Luka-chan. Miki only turns into a monster when the boys in our class become idiots," Ia comforted.

"That's right! Wait. Hey! I don't turn into a monster!" Miki countered.

"Yes, you do," all the boys backed up Ia's statement, only to get a terrifying glare from Miki.

Miki and Ia started arguing playfully while Lily and Miku held them back away from each other. Luka was amazed at how well the four of them got along, and before she knew it, she was laughing at the four's ranting. The four of them stopped to see and hear Luka laugh out loud for the first time. They haven't been together with her for a long time, but they thought she was never going to get comfortable enough with them because of her shy nature. Seeing Luka laugh was an eye candy not only to the four of them, but to everyone in their class.

When Luka noticed that the whole room got quiet, she stopped laughing right away and hid her face with her satchel.

"I-I'm so sorry. I didn't mean to laugh so loudly," Luka shyly said with her blushing face.

The whole class was quiet at first, but after a few moments, they all started admiring Luka's adorable laughter and how she looked so carefree.

"I look forward to a great year with you, Megurine-san. You can just call me 'Miki,'" the red-haired girl said as she grabbed Luka's hand and shook it.

"T-then you can just call me 'Luka,' Miki-chan," Luka replied with a relieved smile on her face.

Just then, the bell rang and everyone headed to their seats. Meiko came in time, for the first time. However, she had a tired and grumpy face on in the beginning of class, which was also a first since she usually teases her students when she took attendance.

"Everybody's here? Ok, good," she said without even carefully looking.

Everyone in the class could already tell that their teacher, Meiko, was in a bad mood. However, they couldn't really tell why. Meiko took out the things she needed from her bag as the class quietly tried to figure out what was wrong with her. When they all whispered around and asked each other what they think the reason is for Meiko's grogginess, nobody was close to the right answer, except for Lily's guess.

"She's probably stressed about today's class fusion," Lily whispered to Ia.

"Fusion?" Ia asked, confused.

"Yeah. You know how we have to combine with another class for the school festival? That's probably why Meiko-sensei's really groggy today," Lily remembered.

Before they could even confirm and ask Meiko if Lily's guess was right, a knock on the door echoed in their classroom. Meiko slowly and creepily turned her head to the door, her eyes widened in fright.

"Sakine-sensei," a man's voice came from the door.

Meiko heavily and roughly sighed as her head dropped down in despair.

"Come in," she unwillingly replied, having no choice but to do so.

The whole class watched as the sliding door moved to the side. They could only see bright light, until a tall man with eyeglasses walked in with some of his students.

"Are we ready for the class discussion?" the man kindly asked.

Meiko loudly sighed once again after giving the man that walked in a why-are-you-even-here look. She groggily turned to her class and sighed once again while peeking at the man with the eyeglasses to see if he reacted. Lily immediately took note of Meiko's actions and realized that Meiko was referring to the man with the eyeglasses when she disgustedly said 'that teacher' yesterday.

"Okay, everyone. For our school festival, we're working with Hiyama-sensei's class. Today, we're brainstorming our final ideas so we can start working on it. Let's all get along, okay?" Meiko said, her voice unfriendly and tired.

The teacher named Hiyama, took over Meiko as she gave room for him in front of the class. The students that he brought along with him stayed by the door, however.

"Okay, everyone. I am Kiyoteru Hiyama and I teach history in other classes, except for this class because you have Sakine-sensei to teach you that," Kiyoteru introduced himself, even giving Meiko a friendly smile when he talked about her.

"I hope we'll all get along with each other to have the best school festival program in the first-year students division and win first place," he bowed.

Meiko's students were hyped with the thought of winning first place for their school festival. Meiko gave instructions to her students to make room for Kiyoteru's class. They all got up and started lifting their desks to make more space. As soon as the classroom was ready, Kiyoteru called his other students, who were left outside to wait.

Most of the people in Luka's class were excited and glad to see the students from the other class because most of them were have been friends with each other for a long time. Luka was actually more anxious than excited because she knew that she'd have to meet more new people. Noticing Luka's nervousness, Miku placed a supporting hand on Luka's shoulder and gave her a comforting smile. Luka felt assured to have Miku with her despite all the murmurs of excitement that filled the room.

Suddenly, all of Luka's classmates started getting louder as the last three people from Kiyoteru's class entered the room. Luka didn't know what was going on, and she didn't want to ask why everyone was making such a big fuss over the last three people that came in. The only thing she could do was observe and listen to what they were saying.

"Kamui-san looks so dreamy today."

"Nakajima-san's so cute! She'll be my girlfriend one day."

"We're so lucky we'd get to work with Shion-kun."

Luka felt lost and confused on who was who. After finally gathering her courage, she decided to ask Miku on who the three people were. However, Luka noticed Miku staring at the boy with the blue hair, who was also looking back at her. They both had looks in their eyes that Luka had seen in romantic movies in the States before. Miku's eyes were shimmering and she had a gentle smile on her face. The boy was also smiling back at her while he nervously scratched the back of his head.

Since Luka paid more attention to her classmates' murmurs, she didn't notice that Kiyoteru had already given instructions for all of them to begin discussing things with each other. Everyone got up and reunited with the people they knew except for Luka, who didn't know anyone from Kiyoteru's class. She looked around to try and find her friends, but all she found was a crowded group of girls surrounding a guy with purple hair and the boy that still stared at Miku, a crowd of boys surrounding a girl with green hair, and smaller groups that wanted to socialize than to flirt and try to impress the three surrounded students.

Luka felt alone and out of place in the sea of students in her new classroom. Her eyebrows slanted in sadness as she remembered what happened to her last night. Before Luka could even start thinking of excuses so she could get out of the classroom, her stomach began grumbling, startling Luka. Sighing, Luka got up to ask permission from Meiko if she could go to the bathroom. Unfortunately, Meiko looked as if she was lecturing Kiyoteru, who just smiled and laughed at the groggy teacher.

"Even Sakine-sensei's getting along with Hiyama-sensei," Luka thought.

Quietly, she made her way to the back of the room to exit through the back door. Since everyone was busy socializing, nobody noticed that the lonely pink-haired girl left the classroom. Without Luka's knowing, someone noticed that she had gone out of the room and secretly followed her.

After closing the sliding door, Luka turned to the left and right of the long hallway to try and figure out where the bathroom was. The tired girl gave up and just walked to the left with hopes that the bathroom was that way.

"What am I doing? I don't even know where the bathroom is," Luka said in her head, slowly walking away from her classroom.

"I knew it. I don't belong here," she sadly told herself.

Meanwhile in the classroom, just a few moments after Luka left, Miku noticed that her new friend was nowhere in the classroom. Not wanting to ask one by one, the teal-haired girl raised her hand up to catch Meiko and Kiyoteru's attentions.

"_Sensei, _have you seen Luka-chan?" Miku worriedly asked, also catching everyone's attention.

"Huh?" Meiko irresponsibly replied, still dazed and frustrated.

"Kamui-kun's not here, either," one of Kiyoteru's students also noticed.

"Oh, who cares where he is?" Meiko commented, irritated.

Ia figured out that Meiko referred to the famous Kamui when she said 'that guy' yesterday during their school festival discussion. However, Ia didn't understand why Meiko didn't like the famous boy from Kiyoteru's class.

Just after their noticing the two's disappearance, they heard an exclamation from outside the room. They all hurried out to check who it was, some of them walking out of the classroom and some of them peeking from the doors.

"Gakupo!" the girl with the green hair from Kiyoteru's class called out when she turned to her left to find her classmate.

The boy with the purple hair named Gakupo faced his classmates and showed them Luka, unconscious in his arms.

"Help!" Gakupo called.

* * *

**Author's note:**

_ohayou gozaimasu- _"good morning" (formal)

_hime- _princess

_minna-san- _"everyone" (formal)

_chotto matte- _"wait a second"

_kora- _"hey" (often used when angry)

_ahoge- _literally foolish hair; hair that sticks out from the top of the head (see Izumi Konata of Lucky Star for an example)

_sensei- _teacher

* * *

_**Hello, minna-san! Mayumi Selnia here again! :D Well, here's more explanations that may answer your curiosity and questions from the things you noticed (if you had any). First off, for Miki's last name, I didn't want to use her voice provider's last name because they'd end up becoming the same person (Miki's voice provider is named Miki Furukawa, so if I give Miki, the Vocaloid, 'Furukawa' as her last name, then she'd be a real person). So, I just used the Japanese form of 'code' from her actual name (****SF-A2 development code miki**), which is koudo (Tadah! Miki Koudo! xD) Next, I know you all probably already know who the green-haired girl from Kiyoteru's class is, so I'd just explain her last name now. Since I didn't really want to use 'Megpoid' as Gumi's last name (admit it, it doesn't sound like it could be a last name in Japan), so I just used her voice provider's last name, which is Nakajima (Megumi Nakajima). That's all. So, now that you know that Meiko was referring to Gakupo when she said 'that guy' and Kiyoteru when she said 'that teacher' from last chapter, why do you think she has...hmm...negative feelings (?) towards them? If you're also wondering why I'm asking these questions...well...I, too, don't know. I mean, come on, everyone enjoys little fun quizzes. (: So leave your answers/guesses with your reviews. Tune in for the next chapters. Don't forget to review! :D -Mayumi Selnia_


	5. Chapter 5: 'Why Would He Help Me'

**Summer's Promise**

Chapter 5: "Why would he help me when we don't even know each other?"

Luka slowly opened her eyes and found herself lying down on a bed. Confused, she tried to stand up to find out where she was, only to get stopped by Miku.

"You need to rest, Luka-chan. Just sit up for now, okay?" Miku kindly said as she helped the dazed Luka get comfortable.

When Luka looked around, she found Miku, Ia, Lily, and Miki sitting around her, two of them on each side. Luka couldn't tell where she was because a curtain covered the area where they were.

"Am I…at the school infirmary?" Luka asked.

They all nodded their heads with a smiled relief on their faces. They wanted to hug Luka in relief, but they didn't want to stress her out. However, they knew that their worries had disappeared.

"I see that you're awake, Megurine-san. I'm Nurse Asakawa" the school nurse friendly smiled as she moved the curtain aside.

"You don't really have a fever or a cold. According to your friends, you were feeling weak and almost fell earlier this morning. They said it was because you were too nervous from all the attention you were getting, but I don't think you'd be asleep for half of the day because of that," Nurse Asakawa informed, also checking Luka's information on the clipboard she carried.

"I didn't get to ask you this since you were passed out when they brought you here, but what did you eat this morning for breakfast?" she asked, still looking at her clipboard.

"Oh…I didn't eat anything this morning," Luka honestly replied.

"What about last night?"

Luka remembered what happened to her that night. After finding the video of her friends with her face removed from any of the pictures included, she cried herself to sleep. She remembered hearing knocks on the door, but she didn't wake up because she thought it was a dream.

"I skipped dinner last night," Luka shamefully answered.

Miku, Ia, Lily, and Miki were surprised that Luka hasn't eaten anything. They've comprehended the reason for Luka's collapsing based on the answers that she had given before the nurse could even tell them why she fainted.

"Luka-chan, you didn't eat lunch yesterday, either. You forgot to bring your _bento_, and you didn't want to get food from the cafeteria because there were a lot of people," Miku supported the thoughts they all had.

"_Sore wa dame da yo!" _Miki exclaimed.

"You have to eat properly, Luka-chan!" scolded Ia.

"You made us worry, you know!" Lily added.

With what Lily said, Luka started tearing up to hear that her new friends were worried because of her. Luka couldn't hold her tears to herself, so she hid her face in her hands, hoping they wouldn't see her tears. However, Luka cried out loud after putting more thought on what was going on.

"Luka-chan? Why are you crying?" Miku nervously asked as she stroked Luka's back to comfort her.

"I'm sorry…for making you worry…I'm sorry for…causing you trouble…_minna,"_ Luka sobbed like a little child.

"_Nakanaide yo, _Luka-chan," Miki sniffled as she wiped her own tears with embarrassment.

"But…I-I…made you all…worry about…me," Luka continued crying.

"It's our job to worry about you when something bad happens, Luka-chan," Ia comforted, also stroking her back.

Luka looked up and uncovered her face, confused of what Ia said. She looked to Ia for an answer, but she gave Luka a soft and kind smile. Out of nowhere, a hand was placed on Luka's, causing her to turn and find out whose it was.

"We're your friends after all," Lily finished Ia's sentence with her own kind smile.

Luka was moved by what her new friends showed her. She felt all the pain of what happened to her last night disappear. In replacement were new memories with her new friends, who deeply cared for her. Luka was glad to have them as she continued to cry, tears of joy instead.

Nurse Asakawa was also happy to see a heartwarming scene of caring friends. As soon as they all finished comforting Luka and Miki, who was easily moved of Luka's tears that she also started crying, the nurse discharged Luka with reminders not to starve herself again. Luka promised Nurse Asakawa before they left for their lunch break that she'll never do it again. After they quickly grabbed their _bento _from their classroom and explaining to their teachers what happened, they headed to the rooftop to eat their lunch there.

On their way, Luka noticed that people were staring at her and whispering things about her. It was the usual, yes, but there was something different about what they were murmuring about her. Usually, the things Luka would hear were "She's so pretty" or "She's that transfer student from the States that's fluent in English" or "I can't believe she's that cute and acts mature for a first-year high school student." However, this time around, she heard her name along with a few other students' name that she had heard before.

Before Luka knew it, they had made it to the rooftop without her friends' noticing the whispers. The autumn wind was blowing by nicely when they arrived on the rooftop. The sky wasn't as sunny as how it was in the summer, making the temperature and weather just right.

"_Arigatou, minna_" Luka smiled as they all shared their lunches with her.

They sat down on the benches, except for Miki and Ia, who chose to sit down on the ground to be able to face Luka, Miku, and Lily. As they shared their lunches, they also chatted about what might've and should've happened during the rest of homeroom class after they all left to supervise the unconscious Luka at the infirmary. Since Luka woke up just as lunch break began, Miku, Ia, Lily, and Miki didn't want to stay in the classroom for lunch, where Luka would most likely be surrounded and questioned for what happened.

"_Ano," _Luka interrupted the silence that arrived as everyone else decided to put food in their mouths.

"Hmm?" Miku mumbled, chewing her food.

"Who's Kamui and Nakajima?" Luka curiously asked, the gossips in the hallway stuck in her mind.

They all continued eating their meal except for Miki, who gulped down her food to answer Luka's question. Everyone else left Miki to answer the question because she had lived in the area longer than they have.

"Gakupo Kamui and Gumi Nakajima. They're two of the most popular people in our school, even with the third-year students. Miku and I have been friends with Kamui since elementary school, but Miku and I weren't really close to Nakajima-san since we were only in the same class on our first year of junior high school. These two, though, have known her longer," Miki narrated, pointing the tips of her chopsticks at Lily and Ia.

"Don't worry, Luka-chan. Gumi's really nice," Lily smiled, adding onto Miki's information.

"Gumi, Lily, and I transferred to the junior high school branch of this school together. We were all in the same class when we were first-year junior high students, but on our second and third year, Gumi and Gakupo-kun were stuck together in a different class, so only Miku, Miki, Lily, and I have been in the same class even 'til today," Ia added.

"Wow. That's amazing," Luka gasped in surprise of how much history they've had together.

"Why did you ask, anyways?" Miku wondered, fixing her _bento _box.

"Well, I heard people whispering about me in the hallway earlier on our way up here, and they also mentioned the names 'Kamui' and 'Nakajima,' so I got curious," Luka shyly said, fidgeting with her fingers.

All of them laughed at how cute Luka looked when she nervously revealed why she was curious of their other friends. They all cleaned up after the mess they made, even though there wasn't much.

"They were probably talking about what happened this morning," Ia said as she threw a candy wrapper in the trash can.

"This morning?" wondered Luka, who slightly tilted her head to the side in confusion.

"You don't remember what happened?" Miki asked as they all got together with Luka again after cleaning up.

"Well, we don't really know what happened either, but when we heard a voice outside the classroom, we all found Gakupo-kun holding you," Miku revealed.

"_Eh?" _Luka muttered, still confused.

Miki sighed and looked at Ia and Lily. Knowing what Miki was thinking, Ia and Lily sighed together, too. When Miku realized what the three of them were planning, she face-palmed and groggily looked at three of them and back at Luka.

"Reenactment," Miku tiredly and embarrassingly announced like a host introducing a new act in a talent show.

"Ahem. This is what probably happened when you went out while we were inside the classroom," Miki began.

"_Toire ni ikanakya," _Ia cutely acted.

"Is that supposed to be…me?" Luka thought, embarrassed.

Luka watched as Ia gracefully walked to the right while humming something to make her acting as Luka look cuter.

"Ah. I have to go to the bathroom, too," Lily suddenly declared with a deeper voice, raising her shoulders to make them look broader and exaggerating her movements, like a stage actor.

"Gakupo-kun_ ka?" _Miku sluggishly thought, unimpressed.

"Oh! Who is that beautiful young lady?" Lily exclaimed.

Luka's face got warmer and redder to hear Lily's line. She was aware that they were only doing a reenactment of what they think happened to her because she didn't know what happened, but she thought that the boy named Kamui wouldn't really say such things.

"Young lady, may I please know your name?" Lily, in a manly voice, asked Ia while embracing her.

"No. I must go before the spell runs out at 8 and I return to my deep 100-year sleep," Ia charmingly refused, gracefully getting away from Lily.

"Cinderella _to Nemuri-hime na no ka yo?" _Luka and Miku exclaimed in their heads, their jaws dropping to hear the little, comedic-like twist that Ia and Lily added.

"But young lady, you're too beautiful! You mustn't leave me!" Lily exclaimed once again.

"Ding dong! Ding dong!" Miki, supposedly the chime clock, warned.

"Oh no! It's eight o'clock!" Ia said just as she fell into Lily's arms.

Ia closed her eyes and Lily was stuck to holding Ia in her arms. Suddenly, Miki walks towards them from the sidelines and called out her own line.

"Gakupo," Miki said in a worried tone, acting as Gumi.

Lily dramatically turns around to reveal her holding Ia to Miki, his face concerned and shocked.

"Help," Lily muttered.

After a three-second pause, the three of them not making a move, they all lined up and took a bow in front of Luka and Miku. Luka's face was still shocked from the 'reenactment' of what happened to her, but Miku, who had been used to their hilarious stupidity, sarcastically clapped with an unenthusiastic cheering.

"Th-th-that d-d-didn't hap-p-pen! He wasn't the one w-w-who c-caught me and a-a-asked help!" Luka panicked in embarrassment.

All of them laughed at her once again, also admiring how adorable her face looked when she panicked and blushed. Just then, the bell rang and they hurried back down to the second floor where the classroom was. Luka's head was still stuck with the last part of their 'reenactment' since that was the only believable part.

Luka wasn't bothered by her classmates when she came back because Miki had already warned them and told them that Luka was stressed. Luka didn't notice that her classmates gave her space because all she had in mind was the 'reenactment.' For the rest of the day, she was intrigued if whether the last part of their 'reenactment' was true. She was also intrigued of why the person named Gakupo Kamui would help her, if it were true.

"I wonder if that really happened," Luka thought, dozing off and not paying attention to the teacher.

"Why would he help me when we don't even know each other?" she wondered.

Like yesterday, Luka walked to the train station with her new friends except for Miku and Miki, who had to run errands for their parents. Since Ia and Lily get off of the train before Luka, she was given more time to think before she got home. Luka felt as if her mind was starting to mess up because of how much thinking she was putting onto a simple and small matter.

"Ah _mou!" _she shook her head as she arrived in front of her house's door.

"_Wakannai!" _Luka said out loud when she walked in.

Rin and Len, who arrived home earlier than Luka did, immediately turned to the entrance, confused of what was going on with Luka.

"What don't you get?" Len asked as he ate potato chips.

"Oh…uhh…nothing," Luka lied, awkwardly laughing right after.

Luka ran to her room and quickly shut the door when she realized that her face was blushing red. Sighing in relief that her younger siblings didn't notice, she sat down on her desk to check on her social network account.

Luka wanted to check if any of her friends from the States messaged her, though she was scared to see any more things that would only hurt her. Luckily, there weren't any recent news that hurt her, but sadly, there were none that made her smile. When she checked for who were online, she found her best childhood friend, Teto, logged in.

"Teto!" Luka quietly exclaimed in delight and excitement.

"Hi, Teto! I miss you so much! How have you been?" Luka said as she typed the words she said.

With a smile on her face, Luka waited for the message to send. After it was sent, she waited for Teto to reply. Luka was really glad that she could finally talk to Teto, her best friend. The time difference between the States and Japan was huge, so it was hard for Luka to contact Teto.

"She's probably getting ready for school," Luka thought when she saw the US time on her desktop showing 6:43 am.

When a notification beep echoed from her computer's speakers, Luka quickly turned her eyes back at their online conversation.

"Oh, hey Luka. Sorry, but can you stop bothering me. Thanks," Luka read Teto's reply in her mind just as Teto went offline.

The phrase 'stop bothering me' resounded all over Luka's mind. Her blue eyes were still fixed on the word 'thanks' as she tried to analyze what was going on. After reality caught up to her, Luka was slapped hard in the face with a painful understanding.

Lifelessly closing the computer window, Luka slowly turned her head to look at the framed picture of her and Teto when they were eighth-grade middle school students. As a teardrop unknowingly dropped down her cheek, Luka turned the frame face-down to hide a painful lie.

"I'm sorry, Nurse Asakawa," Luka mumbled, lifelessly getting up.

"Just this once…this is the last time," she thought as she laid down on her bed and closed her eyes with tears continuously streaming from them.

"I'm skipping dinner again."

* * *

**Author's note:**

_bento-_ homemade lunch box

_sore wa dame da yo- _"that's not good"

_minna- _"everyone"

_nakanaide yo- _"don't cry"

_arigatou- _"thank you" (casual)

_ano- _"umm"

_eh- _"huh"

_toire ni ikanakya- _"I have to go to the bathroom"

Gakupo-kun _ka- _"is that Gakupo"

Cinderella to _Nemuri-hime na no ka yo- _"is that supposed to be Cinderella and Sleeping Beauty"

_mou- _"jeez"

_wakannai- _"I don't get it"/"I don't understand"


	6. Chapter 6: 'Let's Get Ready to Win'

**Summer's Promise**

Chapter 6: "Let's get ready to win this year's school festival!"

A week had passed since Luka started school. She was already friends with everyone in her class and the class they were working with, but she was still as timid as ever, maybe because she was still the talk of the school. The only people she was comfortable with were her first friends, Miku, Ia, Lily, and Miki. Luka hasn't seen the boy that helped her ever since that day, even though they all work together for the upcoming festival, which was in a week.

The joined class chose to have a jazz bar for their school festival, which was an idea that Luka shyly suggested. The two classes decided to have the preparation room or the jazz bar's kitchen in Kiyoteru's classroom. The actual venue, which would have the tables, stage, and the bar counter, was Meiko's classroom. The remaining days from the past week were used in drafting the menu for their classy restaurant. Both of the classes looked to Luka for help, but she hid behind Miku most of the time. She helped them, but Luka nervously stuttered the entire time.

For their main food entrees, they decided on pasta Alfredo, curry, omelette, and tempura. The desserts they wanted to serve were American parfait, crepes, caramel pudding, and strawberry tarts. The drinks, which could be ordered at the bar counter they were going to construct or with their meal, were nonalcoholic cocktails consisting of sodas, juice, and cider; soda; juice; tea; coffee; smoothies; or just water.

This week, they were planning to assign a role or two to each and every one. There were roles needed before, during, and after the school festival. Before the festival, their class needed students who could construct the bar counter and the platform's extension for the stage, decorate the classroom and the outfit the staff were going to wear, and create flyers and posters to advertise their jazz bar. The roles being assigned for during the festival were the cooks, bartenders, waiters and waitresses, entertainers, and people who would call customers over. The two classes also needed people who would clean-up after the mess after the school festival.

The role for the students who would construct the bar counter was given to most of the boys. The girls who were good at decorations and sewing volunteered for the parts they could do. Most of the boys also volunteered to be a part of the clean-up committee. Shifts were also created after their parts were assigned. Those who wouldn't be really busy were given extra shifts. The class participated accordingly, making the task easier than expected.

"Now, we must assign the waiters and waitresses' roles. Like earlier, we're going to assign shifts afterwards so that everyone can have time to enjoy the school festival," Meiko began.

A couple of boys and girls from both classes, including Ia and Lily, raised their hands. Luka didn't want to be a waitress because she knew that she'd have to talk to people she didn't know. The time shifts were quickly decided on and the class proceeded.

"Next, we need cooks that could prepare these meals," Kiyoteru announced the menu right after.

Many students were hesitant to volunteer for the role because most of the food being served were Western food. The two classes began to worry that their jazz bar wouldn't actually work. They looked around and found no hands raised up for the role, which was actually considered as a challenging one.

"_A-ano," _a soft voice called out.

Noticing their worried looks, Luka couldn't bear to keep her words from slipping out. She didn't want to, but she slowly stood up to give her opinion. Her face was red and warm, and her heart was rapidly thumping in tension.

"I-I know how to c-cook the listed food," she shyly said, fiddling with her fingers, her eyes closed.

Murmurs began after Luka stopped talking. They wavered to believe her, maybe because of how she was acting.

"Can she really cook food?"

"I mean, come on. Our Luka-_hime-_sama probably has a personal chef at her house or something."

"She wouldn't really cook, would she? I bet she can't even buy her own ingredients if she's that shy around people."

Luka didn't want to listen to what she could hear about her, but their voices easily entered her ears and she couldn't take them out. Miku, Lily, Ia, and Miki began to panic when they saw Luka's shaking hands. They also began to worry as they watched their classmates not believe on what Luka can possibly do.

"Why not cook for us, Luka-chan?" Miku suggested, standing up to grab everyone's attention.

"The home economics room is surely empty because everyone's getting ready for the festival. You can use that to show us what you can do, and if it's easy, then I'll volunteer as a cook and help you out," Miku smiled.

Finding it a good idea, the two classes headed to the wide and spacious home economics room. Luka was more impressed on her private school after seeing the organized home economics classroom with its expensive and brand new ovens, kitchen counters, and utilities. Even the supplies and ingredients in the drawers and refrigerator were fresh because of the daily checks and deliveries. Luka doubted, at first, that they could pull off the jazz bar with the materials they requested from the school's student council, but they easily approved of it because money wasn't a problem to the private school.

Meiko and Kiyoteru decided on what Luka should cook from the menu that their classes created. They chose the pasta Alfredo for the main entrée, strawberry tarts for the dessert, and smoothies for the drink. For the people who would try the food, the teachers and the class representatives for the cultural association under the student council were chosen, which was a total of six people. As soon as Luka's tasks were handed to her, the classes sat down to watch her work.

The joined classes were impressed at how swift she worked and how graceful she looked. Luka didn't waste any time and did not have any reluctance in her movements. They thought that she would sit down and rest while waiting for something to cook or finish boiling, but she prepared the plates and other meals, instead. After an hour of waiting and watching, Luka was finally done.

"_Itadakimasu," _the six judges said in synchrony.

Luka, exhausted and nervous, waited for the six people to finish tasting the meals she prepared. The two classes already decided to have Luka as their cook as soon as they saw her professional-like skills. However, they wanted to know how the food she cooked actually tasted.

As soon as the four students placed the food in their mouths, their eyes opened and glimmered in amazement. Kiyoteru was also overwhelmed at the food he was tasting in his mouth. On the other hand, Meiko kept eating with a gluttonous smile on her face. When they were finished, they wiped their mouths and thought about what to say to Luka.

"H-how was it?" the pink-haired girl nervously asked.

The four students looked at Kiyoteru, who knew what they were thinking. After clearing his throat, he summarized his and the four students' overall statement.

"It was remarkably delicious, Megurine-san," Kiyoteru kindly smiled.

Luka lit up with joy to hear their opinions about her cooking. After smiling to her friends, Miku, Ia, Lily, and Miki, Luka turned to her teacher for her review on how the food was.

"_S-sensei, _h-how was it?" Luka asked again.

Meiko got up, her head tilted down with her bangs hiding her eyes. Luka feared that Meiko didn't like her cooking, which deeply worried her. However, all of a sudden, Meiko ran up to Luka and hugged her like she was an adopted kitty.

"It was so delicious, Luka-chan!" Meiko exclaimed in joy.

"You should live in my house and cook for me from now on, okay?" Meiko adored.

Luka was beyond happy when a couple of other girls and boys volunteered to be a cook with her. Kiyoteru and Meiko suggested that those who volunteered to be cooks with Luka should come to school on Saturday to get lessons from her. Even though Luka wasn't a part of the decision the two teachers made, she bashfully agreed and promised to teach her fellow classmates how to cook the food they would need. As soon as they finished helping Luka clean up, the two classes returned to Meiko's classroom to finish the task of assigning jobs. All of them were hyped and excited after Luka shared her skills.

"For the entertainers, we're going to have a short screening of what you're going to do after school. It's not going to be an audition, but we need to see what act you're going to do," Kiyoteru explained.

"Now, we need bartenders who are really good looking!" Meiko excitedly announced.

"_Ano, _Sakine-sensei. What do you mean by 'good looking'?" Kiyoteru asked for the students, also confused.

"Well, bartenders are really hot, you know. Most of them can get a girl any day because of how smooth they are," Meiko explained.

"And how would you know that?" Kiyoteru blushed.

"Hiyama-sensei, Meiko-sensei goes to a bar every night to find a boyfriend, you know," one of Meiko's students teased.

"_Kora! Chigau!" _Meiko roared.

"I only go every weeknights!" the brunette corrected.

"She didn't even try to deny the fact that she does go to bars, or the other fact that she really is looking for a boyfriend," Miku, Ia, Lily, and Miki facepalmed, all four of them thinking the same thing.

The whole class continued to laugh as Meiko ranted about the handsome bartenders she had met so far, who she eventually started to hate, because they were more interested in other girls. Kiyoteru looked a little upset as he massaged the top of the bridge of his nose. Before everything got out of hand, Meiko stopped her delusions and got back on task.

"Who should be the bartenders for our jazz bar?" Meiko asked, clearing her throat.

"Why not Kamui-kun and Shion-kun?" a girl advised.

The girls from both classes immediately agreed while some of the boys felt jealous when they remembered the guidelines for the bartender. The girls, except for Luka, Ia, Lily, and Miki, also started fantasizing about how the two boys would look like in their bartender uniforms. Even Miku had already fallen in her own daydream of the blue-haired boy named Kaito Shion as a bartender.

"Ah, _mou! _This is why I hate that Gakupo," Meiko mumbled.

"_Hai! Hai! Wakatta, wakatta!" _Meiko sluggishly said just so she could stop their 'fangirling.'

"They're not even here, though," Lily pointed out.

"Yeah! Yeah!" Meiko agreed, a glimmer of hope shining in her eyes.

"They're going to be back next week," Kiyoteru answered, shattering the last hope that Meiko was grabbing onto.

"Nakajima-san, Kamui-kun, and Shion-kun have been gone recently because of the school martial arts competition in Osaka, but the competition ends this week, so they'll return in the weekend in time for the school festival next week," Kiyoteru explained.

The girls were relieved that the two boys would be able to arrive in time to be their jazz bar's bartenders. The boys were a little upset, but they kept in mind that they could win because of the two popular boys.

"Now that everything's settled, let's get ready to win this year's school festival!" Meiko cheered.

"Yeah!" the joined classes howled together.

Just then, the school bell rang and it was time for their lunch break. Taking advantage of the nice fall climate once again, Luka, Miku, Ia, Lily, and Miku all ran up to the rooftop to enjoy their lunch. Since Luka brought her own melon_ pan _and milk_, _they didn't have to go to the cafeteria to buy food.

"Isn't this a nice way to start the week before the school festival? Hyped and ready to begin working to win first prize," Ia smiled as she gobbled her food.

They all nodded their heads to agree with Ia's nice statement. As the autumn breeze blew by, Luka smiled when she thought that she was able to help out her class and the other class with her cooking skills.

"But it's going to be so hectic the week after the school festival," Miku countered, grabbing a _tamagoyaki _with her chopsticks.

"That's true. We're going to have to get ready for the second midterms in the end of October," Miki worried as she shook her head.

"You're so lucky, Luka-chan. Before you transferred, we heard from Meiko-sensei that you're really smart," praised Lily.

"_Sonna koto nai yo," _Luka denied, her face as red as a tomato.

"Our school doesn't really let new students transfer to our school in the second term of the year, that's why you're still the talk of the school. Usually, when we get new people, they arrive in the beginning of the year. We know they're knew because we haven't seen them before," explained Ia.

"You're one of the few students that were allowed to transfer in the middle of the year because of your brains, Luka-chan," they all said.

Luka continued eating while hiding her blushing face. Her four friends could tell that Luka's cheeks were beet red, though.

"I feel worse for those students who joined that academic competition, though," Ia commented, looking up at the sky.

Luka was suddenly intrigued because Ia was unknowingly talking about her. Luka recalled how she signed up for the academic competition before the past week ended. Ever since then, she had been studying more and harder before the academic competition set after their week of final exams.

"Those people have to study harder for the midterms, finals, and the competitions," Miki stated.

The pink-haired girl continued listening, even though she knew what they meant. Luka wanted to tell her friends that she was one of those people, but she was afraid that they'd make fun of her. Keeping it to herself, Luka created mental notes on how she's going to manage the next few weeks to study for the midterms and continue her training for the competition.

"For now, we should just think about the festival so we can win," Lily softly smiled.

Luka agreed and continued eating her food with a bashful grin on her face.

"Let's win this thing, _minna!" _Miku excitedly proclaimed.

* * *

**Author's note:**

_ano- _"umm"

_hime- _princess

_itadakimasu- _doesn't really have a definite meaning, but is said before eating meals

_sensei- _teacher

_kora- _"hey" (often used when angry)

_chigau- _"that's wrong/that's different"

_mou- _"jeez"

_hai- _"yes/okay"

_wakatta- _"I get it/I understand"

_pan- _bread

_tamagoyaki-_ omelette

_sonna koto nai yo- _"there's no such thing"

_minna- _"everyone"


	7. Chapter 7: 'I Can Overcome My Shyness'

**Summer's Promise**

Chapter 7: "I think…I can maybe…just maybe…overcome my shyness."

"Everyone's here?" Miku exclaimed to see that everyone in the joined classes came to the home economics classroom for Luka's cooking lessons.

Luka didn't notice how many people came because she was getting the ingredients ready. As she looked for the other pots and pans that they would need in a drawer on the bottom of the sink, other pans hanging on the pot rack began to rattle. The hooks' screws were loose and could barely hold on to some of the pans any longer. Before Luka could notice this, one of the hooks came undone, causing a pan to fall on her way.

She looked up just in time to see it, but it was too late for her to move out of its way. Suddenly, a hand came from out of nowhere and pushed away the pan in midair, preventing it from landing on Luka's head. When the pan hit the ground, the people in the classroom all turned to where the noise came from, seeing Luka squatting down with her hands covering her head, and Gakupo standing near her.

"Are you alright?" the purple-haired boy asked, extending a hand to help Luka.

"I-I-I'm a-a-alr—"

"Luka-chan! _Daijoubu?_" Miku interrupted as she rushed to help Luka after emerging from the crowd that surrounded the scene.

Luka, who was too shy to accept Gakupo's helping hand, held onto Miku's hand, instead, for support. She buried her head on Miku's shoulder to hide her blushing face and the tears that were about to fall.

"What did you do, Gakupo?" Miku scolded.

"He just slapped the pan away from hitting Luka-chan's head, that's all," Ia defended.

"I saw the whole thing," she added with a mischievous wink.

Miku sighed as she stroked Luka's back for comfort. Gakupo picked up the pan and placed it on the counter along with the other things that Luka needed. Not wanting to scare Luka anymore, he walked away from her with a hint of worry and apology drawn on his face. The crowd also dispersed back to their own groups, thinking of what happened just then. Some of them were worried, while some were skeptic.

"It seems that they've forgotten to check the cupboards and drawers, huh," a lime-haired girl said as she examined the pot rack.

After taking a careful look, the girl walked over to Luka, who was being comforted by her friends.

"I don't think we've ever had a proper meeting, Megurine-san, but I'm Gumi Nakajima. I'm sorry about what happened," the girl named Gumi friendly said.

"I-i-it's n-not your fault, Nakajima-san. Oh! I-I'm Luka M-Megurine. It's nice to meet you!" Luka nervously bowed.

"I'm glad you're alright, though," Gumi smiled to lessen Luka's anxiety.

"_Hai, hai. _Let's reserve the talks later, Gumi-chan. Luka-chan needs to get started with her cooking class," Ia winked.

Apologizing for nothing and thanking her friends for support, Luka smiled with an anxious glimmer in her eyes. Since everyone was excited to start, they already had their aprons on. Seeing their reaction and excitement, Luka began to panic. However, before Luka could start, Miku gave her friend a 'good luck' pat on her back that lifted up some of the worries that Luka had in her mind. With a gentle smile, Luka closed her eyes and deeply breathed in and out.

"_Minna-san," _Luka exclaimed, the determined tone in her voice grabbing everyone's attention, especially her friends', Gakupo's, and Gumi's.

"Are you all ready to learn how to cook?"

"Yeah!"

"Then, let's get started."

The enthusiastic classes followed every step that Luka showed them. Some of them made a few mistakes, but with the pink-haired girl's guidance, they easily fixed it and learned from their errors. Luka's friends noticed that she was having fun and not stuttering without her knowing. They realized that Luka was actually very friendly and caring towards others. Most of the boys in both classes were captivated by Luka's actions, that some of them would purposefully make a mistake just for her to come to their sides.

After about two hours of cooking the dishes they planned, the two classes finally finished. The home economics room looked like a buffet restaurant after they placed the dishes on the kitchen counters. The boys brought in more tables and chairs while the girls distributed the dishes and utensils.

"_Itadakimasu!" _the whole class said in synchrony.

The whole joined classes were all proud of what they've accomplished, even though most of them were still a little scared and were lacking self-confidence. The food they all prepared looked delicious, like the ones they'd see in expensive restaurants. As usual, the students from both classes sat with their friends, forming groups. Luka, who reverted back to her shy nature, sat with Miku, Ia, Lily, and Miki. Gumi also sat with them, but Kaito and Gakupo were nowhere to be found.

"Those two left earlier with the costume designers to get their bartender uniforms," Gumi answered Miki, who pointed out Kaito and Gakupo's disappearance.

"Now that you mentioned that, how did you three know that the classes would be here?" Lily asked, tasting the pasta Alfredo.

"Hiyama-sensei told the three of us with an email. He said it was optional, but I was interested in learning the dishes we'll be serving. He also asked me what I wanted to do, so I asked to be a waitress. Though, it seems that Gakupo and Kaito didn't have an option like I did," Gumi giggled.

"How did you all do in the martial arts competition? Oh! This is really good!" Ia asked, exclaiming right after tasting the tempura.

"Of course, Gakupo placed first in _judo. _As for me, I'm trying not to brag or anything, but I also placed first in _naginatajutsu," _Gumi happily announced.

Luka's eyes lit up in amazement when she heard about Gumi and Gakupo's success in the competition. She felt a little jealous that they could do those things, which was a difficulty for her because she grew up in the States, where martial arts wasn't a school sport. Luka remained quiet, although, because she was afraid of getting laughed at for being impressed on something small.

"What about Shion?" Lily questioned.

"He's not really a part of our school's martial arts team because he was scouted to be a baseball player for our school's team on his third year in junior high school. They just needed an extra person for the school's team to enter the _judo _competition," Miku, who had been calm and strangely quiet, answered, surprising everyone.

Their whole table was quiet, embarrassing Miku. Her face turned red and for a second, it seemed as if her twin tails twitched on their own. Everyone, even Luka, could tell that there was passion in Miku's statement, which was something the teal-haired girl didn't want to make obvious.

"H-he just t-told me, alright!" Miku slipped an excuse with blushing cheeks.

Everyone knew that Miku wasn't lying, but there was something behind the truth that she didn't want to disclose to even her closest friends just yet. Respecting her privacy, they didn't want to keep interrogating her with their looks of surprise. To move on, they all began to compliment Luka's cooking abilities.

"Where did you learn how to cook so amazingly?" Ia asked, as she wiped her mouth with the paper towel by her plate.

"Oh, I—" Luka stopped with worried eyes, thinking.

Flashbacks of her past rushed in her mind before she answered Ia's question. Her memories were vivid, but they were memories she didn't want to reveal to her new friends. She wanted to forget those memories, but she decided not to. After all, it was a part of who she was.

"I watch cooking shows and read cookbooks every now and then," Luka lied with a fake, awkward smile.

Miku noticed that Luka was lying, but she also didn't want to meddle with Luka's privacy. Returning the favor of not asking anymore questions, Miku decided to forget what she saw.

After they finished eating, everyone helped with the clean-up of the home-economics room. While Luka washed the dishes with some of the girls from her class and the other class, some people wiped the tables and returned the extras that they brought in. When everything was finished, Luka and her friends, including Gumi, saw everyone off before they locked the home economics room.

Before leaving, Luka checked the sign-up sheet for people who wanted to be cooks with her and found enough people to have shifts. Luka's eyes shimmered in joy to see the list of names that would be working with her. Her friends were also glad that Luka wouldn't be alone.

"This is the first time I've seen you so excited to work with people, Luka-chan," Lily smiled.

Luka's face started blushing even though she was a little confused. After a few moments, she let out a relieved smile and gave thanks to everyone.

"Thanks to everyone…I think…I can maybe…just maybe…overcome my shyness," Luka sincerely announced.

Miku, Ia, Lily, and Miki hugged and patted Luka, like a little kitten. Gumi wanted to do it with them, but she had only met Luka today and didn't really do much to help her. However, Gumi was contented in just seeing Luka's kind smile.

* * *

The school festival began with a blast and everyone was excited. Everyone participated accordingly to make their school festival a success. Every joined classes were hyped and determined to win the first prize for their grade level. The visitors from other schools and the town also kept coming, which was expected from an elite school.

Luka's class's jazz bar became popular right away, mostly because Gakupo and Kaito were two of the bartenders. Their class thought that their jazz bar was only popular because of the two boys, but when they weren't on the shift, customers still kept coming. When the free students roamed around, they were very pleased to hear that their customers were talking about the good food they served. By the third day of the festival, their class's jazz bar became the talk of the school for its delicious food, merry and also relaxing entertainment, elegant setting, and great customer service.

Even though it was busy, Miku, Ia, Lily, and Miki would check-up on Luka every now and then. That was because Luka didn't want to abandon her job, though they had shifts. Her friends would get worried that Luka was getting tired, but she was actually having fun.

Luka finally took a break on the fourth day of the festival because of an unexpected visit from her family members.

"Dad! Mom! Rin! Len!" Luka exclaimed in confusion.

"We wanted to check-up on you, Luka. You always come home tired, but we heard you're really having fun," Luka's dad kindly smiled as he passed the menu back to Miku, who tended to them as their waitress.

"Was this your idea, Nee-chan?" Rin asked, looking around.

Luka nodded with a nice and coy smile. Len, who was going to be a first-year senior high school student next year, was excited to do the festival when the jazz bar fascinated him.

"Luka-_hime-_sama!" some of the waiters called.

Luka turned to give them a quick wave, embarrassed in front of her family. Luka's parents overheard the waiters' talking about Luka to their customers. The customers all smiled when they found out that Luka was the main chef who had been preparing the tasty meals.

"So it's your cooking, huh," Luka's father teased.

"I'm proud of you," he said, gently patting Luka's head.

Luka stayed with her family before returning back to the kitchen to do her job. She watched the entertainment, which was actually more amazing than she had thought. After her family finished with their meals and jazz bar experience, Luka escorted them out.

"By the way, Luka-nee-chan, who are those boys over there?" Rin asked with a suspicious grin on her face as she pointed at the bartenders.

"They're too young for you, Rin!" Luka said.

"I was just wondering," Rin teased with a wink.

"Well, we'll head on out now. See you at home," Luka's mom said as she gave Luka a peck on the forehead.

"We're glad you're adjusting well, Luka," the pink-haired girl's foreign father praised.

Luka just replied with a gentle smile on her face before she returned to the kitchen as her family left.

"I am, too, Dad," Luka thought as she returned to her new friends in the kitchen.

* * *

**Author's note:**

_daijoubu- _"are you alright/okay"

_hai- _"okay/yes"

_minna-san- _"everyone"

_judo- _a sport created in Japan, where the objective is to either throw or takedown an opponent to the ground, immobilize or otherwise subdue an opponent with a pin, or force an opponent to submit with a joint lock or a choke

_naginatajutsu- _the Japanese martial art of wielding the naginata (weapon resembling a medieval glaive)

_hime- _princess


	8. Chapter 8: 'Let's Dance'

**Summer's Promise**

Chapter 8: 'Let's dance.'

Friday came fast and it was the final day of the school festival. Luka's class was on the lead, making it very obvious that they had already won. The pink-haired cook of the class didn't find out what the prize was until the last day of the festival, which surprised her.

"_Eh? _An _onsen _trip?" Luka exclaimed as she ate lunch with Miku and Miki on their break.

"Do you know what an _onsen _trip is, Luka-chan?" Miku asked as she picked up a _tamagoyaki _with her chopsticks.

Luka shook her head, biting onto her _anpan _like a child. Miki explained that it was a trip to the hot springs with the two joined classes for three days. The red-haired girl also told her about when and where they were going, certain that they were going to win.

"I'm so excited now!" Miki cheerfully announced.

Suddenly, while Luka admired Miki's cuteness, the door to the rooftop flung open, scaring the door. Many boys, varying from the boys in Luka's class, boys from the same grade, and even some upperclassmen, rushed in with Luka's name in their roars.

"Luka-_hime-_sama!" most of them yelled as they fell on their knees on a begging position.

"Please dance with us tonight!"

The confused pink-haired girl only tilted her head to the side as her answer because in truth, she didn't know what they were saying.

"Oh, we forgot to tell you, Luka-chan. Tonight, we're having a dance around the bonfire. It's an annual thing in our junior and senior high school, though ours is during our school festival and the junior high school is after their sports festival," Miku explained.

"According to legend, if a girl and boy completes a dance while circling around the bonfire, they'll be together forever," Miki added while daydreaming.

"Have you ever been asked, Miki?" skeptical, Miku asked.

"_Kora! _Are you really going to touch on something that hurts?"Miki playfully pinched Miku's cheeks, roaring.

Luka laughed at the two and the fact that Miki had never been asked to the bonfire dance before. As the three of them joked around, the boys patiently waited for Luka to reply. All of them were still on their knees, their eyes full of determination. When Luka noticed them again, she gulped and felt her heart beat faster. Not only was she nervous of being the center of attention, but also because she was going to have to reject their invitations.

After a few moments of thinking to herself, Luka finally gathered her courage to say what she wanted to tell them. Taking a deep breath and gulping down, Luka opened her mouth to project her voice.

"_Ano—"_

_ "Oi, _Miku, Miki. Are two slacking off again?" a boy's voice interrupted Luka.

Everyone, including the boys, turned their eyes to the rooftop's door to find two boys wearing bartender uniforms. The boys already knew that they were Gakupo and Kaito, two of the most popular boys of the senior high school. Luka's eyes grew wide at the sight of them because of how grand and charming they looked, especially since the autumn sun was shining on them.

"Don't call us by our first names, Kamui!" Miki stood up as Gakupo and Kaito walked further out.

"Why not?" Gakupo nonchalantly asked.

"Because your fangirls will hear us! They'll definitely trample all over us because you called us differently!" Miki roared.

Luka listened to their roaring conversation, but only seem to notice Gakupo. In the corner of her eyes, however, she could see Kaito and Miku gazing and hiding their bright red faces at the same time. Even though Luka didn't focus on the two, she could tell that there was a better atmosphere lingering around Kaito and Miku than Gakupo and Miki.

Before Luka could return to paying attention to Miki and Gakupo's dog-cat bickering, she noticed that the boys from earlier were starting to get fewer as they began to leave. She was confused on why they would leave all of a sudden when they've been trying to get her to reply to one of them. Listening to what they were saying, Luka unknowingly began to blush.

"Let's go. I bet that Kamui guy's going to ask Luka-_hime _to the dance."

"She's definitely going to say 'Yes' to that guy."

"I feel so pathetic now."

Luka felt horrible that she didn't get to honestly answer them, but at the same time she felt relieved that she wouldn't have to say what was on her mind, especially since it was just going to hurt them. When she turned back to Gakupo, Luka's face got warmer without her knowing. She felt a little jealous that Gakupo and Miki get along, obviously from how Gakupo was now pinching Miki's cheeks. What bothered Luka the most, though, was what the boys were saying about Gakupo.

"T-there's no way h-he's going to ask me to dance with him!" she thought, feeling as if she wasn't good enough for the famous Gakupo.

Before they all got lost in their own peaceful break time, Gakupo's phone started beeping in his pocket, causing him to pause from spreading Miki's cheeks apart.

"Break time's over. Let's go," Gakupo alerted.

The two boys let Miki and Miku head back in first, with Kaito just walking behind the teal-haired Miku. Luka, who was still shy around Gakupo, walked behind him and waited for him to go in first. Since Luka felt nervous, she knew that it would show her face, so she walked with her head down. Without looking at where she was going, Luka suddenly stopped as she felt something bump her forehead.

"_Itai!" _Luka softly exclaimed.

With her hand on her forehead, Luka looked up to see Gakupo's back.

"Oh! I-I'm so s-s-sorry!" she stuttered, bowing in apology.

"It's alright. Sorry I stopped out of nowhere," Gakupo laughed.

"By the way, are you okay now?"

"Oh! Uh, y-yes! T-thank you for helping m-me that day."

Luka couldn't talk properly like before since she was really nervous. Trying to think of the support that Miku sent, Luka still couldn't calm herself down.

"I'm glad. We haven't really had a proper introduction, but I'm Gakupo Kamui," the purple-haired boy bowed.

"I-I-I'm L-Luka Megurine! I'm from t-the States! It's nice to meet you!" she exclaimed, also bowing her head.

In nervousness, Luka accidentally hit her forehead on Gakupo's as she bowed for her introduction.

"Oh, sorry!" Gakupo apologized, worried of Luka's forehead.

"It's alright," Luka awkwardly laughed.

Out of the blue, Gakupo extended his hand out for a handshake, knowing that it was a custom for foreigners. The smile on his face was gentle and refreshing, and his indigo eyes shone perfectly with the sun's golden rays.

"Nice to meet you, Megurine-san."

Although she was still anxious, Luka felt as if she could easily get along with Gakupo because of the smile he showed her. Extending her hand out, she grasped Gakupo's hand and shook it. Without even knowing it, Luka also gave off a smile that made Gakupo's eyes widen in amazement. He, too, felt a surge of invigoration from Luka's warm smile.

"It's nice to meet you, too, Kamui-san."

* * *

Before the day was over and the sun began its setting, all classes cleaned up after the closing time of their festival from the public. As soon as all the classes finished, the principal gave his remarks before the winners for the school festival for each grade level was announced. Of course, for the first year level, Luka and Gakupo's classes won. Since Luka was the main reason for their success, they made her go up with Gakupo to the stage to take their award.

"Is she the rumored transfer student?"

"Wow, she really is a beauty, that Luka Megurine."

"Those two are probably the most popular first year students in our school."

Luka couldn't hear the mumbles from the students, but she knew they were talking about her. However, she felt a little calmer, but the reason was still unknown and confusing to her. After she and Gakupo returned to where their classes were standing, all their fellow classmates cheered and screamed in joy for their success.

Before they all even knew it, the bonfire had already been set up and the awards ceremony had ended. Everyone gathered around the tall bonfire that lit up the whole courtyard of their school. Some, including Luka, stayed with their friends, while some actually danced around the bonfire with their lovers. Miku prepared their area and draped a cloth on the ground where they could sit on.

"Oh, how I wish I can dance with someone, too!" Miki daydreamed.

"Just dance with us, Miki," Ia invited as she got up with Lily to dance.

"No! I don't have feelings for you two!" Miki exclaimed in disgust.

"It's for a long-lasting friendship, you know," Lily giggled.

Not having any other choice with the loneliness she was feeling, Miki got up and ran to Lily and Ia to dance around the bonfire. The three of them held hands and just spun around.

"Are they even dancing?" Miku said in a tired tone, her expression also exhausted.

Luka couldn't help but giggle at the sight of the three and the statement that Miku gave. Miku also laughed with Luka because the pink-haired girl's laugh was actually contagious. After all, Luka hasn't really let out a comfortable laugh just yet since she was still trying to adjust to everyone. The two girls continued to laugh until a blue-haired boy approached them.

"S-Shion-kun," Miku muttered, her face blushing and her heart thumping hard.

"D-do you…maybe…w-want to d-d-dance with…me?" Kaito asked, scratching his head and looking away in embarrassment.

Luka was now completely aware of their feelings for each other. She was willing to help the two of them, no matter what.

"But…Luka-chan's going to be alo—"

"I'll be okay, Miku-chan," Luka kindly smiled, encouraging her twin-tailed friend to get up and dance.

Not wanting to embarrass Kaito and also ignore Luka's help, Miku got up with Kaito's help and began to dance around the bonfire with him. Luka was glad to see that the two of them looked like they were having fun in each other's company.

The autumn night was getting colder as the breeze blew by. The fire danced under the moonlight's rays and the shining of the bright stars. Everyone was having fun as they danced, or even just as they watched. Luka was glad that she was beginning to adjust with new people and have a peaceful life.

"Achoo!" Luka quietly sneezed when the wind rolled by.

"You'll catch a cold, you know," a voice said as a blanket enveloped Luka's back and shoulders from behind.

When Luka turned, she found Gakupo behind her as he tried to get the blanket situated on her body.

"Kamui-san! _Arigatou gozaimasu!" _Luka exclaimed right away.

"Oh, come on. Forget the 'Kamui-san.' 'Gakupo' is alright," he teased.

"_D-demo—"_

"Come on, try it. Say 'Ga-ku-po.'"

"I-I can't! I've j-j-just met you…a-a-and…we're not that close yet! Also, Miki-chan was s-saying something about g-g-getting trampled on!"

"Oh, that! Miki and Miku have been my childhood friends. We kind of separated on our second and third year of junior high school and also now, though, but they used to call me by my name. I guess ever since we separated, they've started calling me back by my family name," Gakupo wondered from the top of his head.

When he turned back to Luka, he realized that she was actually really nervous. How much she shook was a good enough proof for him that he shouldn't mess with her too much just yet.

"_Suman. _You can keep calling me by my family name, but just use '-kun,' okay?" Gakupo friendly requested.

Luka nodded while hiding her cheeks from the blanket. An awkward silence remained between the two as they continued their viewing of the dance. Luka knew that it was bad to not keep the conversation going, so she wanted to say something, even though she was really tense. However, before she could say something, Gakupo got up and extended his hand out towards her.

"Let's dance, Megurine-san," he charmingly smiled.

Luka's face was flushed and her face was getting warmer at the moment. She was too anxious to take his hand, but Luka knew that rejecting him would not only embarrass him, but her, too. Out of the kindness in her heart and the new friendship she formed, Luka took Gakupo's hand and accepted his invitation.

"You're a really good cook, Megurine-san," Gakupo complimented to begin their conversation.

They danced around the bonfire with gentle smiles on their faces. Luka's heart was still throbbing fast, but that was because she was nervous of dancing with a boy. She didn't realize that there were people admiring them and whispering about them, and even Gakupo didn't notice it.

"T-thank you," shyly, Luka replied.

"I didn't really get to eat your food since I left early during your cooking class and we were busy this week," Gakupo sadly and embarrassedly pointed out.

"_G-gomenasai," _Luka frowned.

Little did the two know that they have already dance half of the full circle around the bonfire. When Luka's friends noticed that the two of them were dancing, they stopped to watch Gakupo and Luka, hoping that they'd finish the round.

"You should make a _bento _for me one of these days…if that's okay with you," Gakupo smiled.

"O-of course! I certai..."

Luka felt lightheaded and weak as the surroundings blurred in her eyes. Before she could even fight it or notice it, Luka had already lost her consciousness and didn't finish her reply.

"Megurine-san!"

* * *

**Author's note:**

_eh- _"huh"

_onsen- _hot springs

_tamagoyaki-_ omelette

_anpan- _red bean bread

_hime- _princess

_kora- _"hey" (often used when angry)

_ano- _"umm"

_oi- _"hey" (often used by men)

_itai- _"ouch"

_arigatou gozaimasu- _"thank you" (formal)

_demo- _"but"

_suman- _"sorry" (often used by men)

_gomenasai- _"sorry" (formal)

_bento- _homemade lunch box


	9. Chapter 9: 'They Feel So Comforting'

**Summer's Promise**

Chapter 9: "His hand…and voice…they feel so…comforting."

"My…room?" she thought, looking around after slowly opening her eyes.

Luka was greeted by the autumn sun as it shone through her curtained windows. As she sat up to look out the window from her bed, Luka remembered the last few things she saw before she blacked-out.

"Kamui-kun…I didn't get to finish…the dance…with Kamui-kun," she muttered to herself, spaced out.

Luka turned to her door when she heard knockings from the other side. Given permission, Rin quietly walked in with a soft smile.

"I'm glad you're awake, Nee-chan," Rin said.

"Your friends are here to visit."

"_Eh? _My friends?" Luka asked in confusion.

Before Rin could answer her older sister's question, Luka's friends already walked in.

"How are you, Luka-chan?" Miku greeted first.

Miku was followed by Miki, Ia, and Lily. Luka was happy to see them, but her facial expression changed right away when two boys walked into her room.

"Kamui-kun! Shion-kun!" the pink-haired girl exclaimed.

"Wow. Your room is so much cuter and bigger than Miku's and Miki's," Gakupo praised as he looked around to see Luka's color-coordinated, pink and white room.

"_Urusai!" _Miku and Miki shouted in synchrony.

"Hm?" Gakupo thought, noticing Luka's study desk.

Before he could approach the desk to observe it, Gakupo was forced by Miku and Miki to sit down and behave properly. Not wanting to meddle with the things in Luka's room, Gakupo obeyed his two childhood friends' command and sat beside Kaito.

Rin and Miki left Luka's room to prepare the cake and tea that Miki brought. Luka's guests sat down around the white _chabudai _in the center of her room. Even though they didn't have cushions to sit or kneel on, all of them were comfortable because of the big, circular, pale-pink rug that laid underneath the _chabudai. _Luka also sat down on the floor, but her back leaned against her bed to keep her state from getting worse.

"I'm surprised you have one of these traditional tables in your Western room, Luka-chan," Ia smiled, examining the _chabudai's _surface.

"Well, I _am _Japanese," Luka cheerfully, yet softly smiled back while everyone agreed with giggles.

"By the way, what happened to me?" the pink-haired girl got to the point right away as soon as they stopped laughing.

"You fainted in Kamui's—"

"Gakupo!" the purple-haired boy corrected Miku.

"You fainted in Gakupo's arms when you two danced around the bonfire," Miku continued her sentence after sighing from Gakupo's correcting her.

"We brought you to the infirmary and Nurse Asakawa called your parents so they can bring you home. While we were waiting, Nurse Asakawa said that there was nothing wrong with you because all your vitals were normal. She asked us what you've been doing during the festival, then she asked your parents what you do when you get home. Before your parents took you, Nurse Asakawa told us that you haven't been getting enough sleep, so you're really stressed," Miku finished.

"First, it was starvation. Now, it's lack of sleep. _Mou, _Luka-chan! You need to start taking better care of yourself! You always make us worry, you know," Lily scolded.

"_Gomenasai," _Luka apologized with a downed face.

"Only one good thing came out of your collapsing, though," Ia winked.

"_Eh?"_ everyone muttered, surprised that Ia would say something somewhat offending.

"You didn't get to finish the dance around the bonfire with Kamui," the platinum-haired girl revealed.

Everyone laughed, except for Luka, who was confused on why that was a good thing, and Gakupo, who was offended. Luka was still confused, her eyes wide as a platter, but seeing her cheerful friends made her smile and giggle with them. Before things got out of hand between Gakupo and Ia's bickering, Miki and Rin entered with the tea and cake, already sliced and ready.

The bunch spent the rest of the afternoon entertaining Luka. They also learned a few things about her, like how she learned how to play the piano by herself and how she's studying the Korean language. Luka's friends also saw her academic certificates and awards from when she got the top grades every grading period in her school.

"You're so smart, Luka-chan. I'm so jealous," Miki said as she cuddled with Luka, like a kitten burrowing its head on its mother's fur.

"T-that's not true, Miki-chan," Luka awkwardly replied.

Not only did they learn about Luka, but she also learned more about her new friends, Gakupo and Kaito, and their relationships with her friends.

"Now that you mentioned it," Ia noticed.

"Since when did Shion move here?" she asked.

"I transferred during our second year in junior high. I was in the same class as Gakupo and Gumi," Kaito revealed.

"Oh," Ia, Lily and Miki said, elongating their comment.

After finishing their long 'Oh' comment, Miki's phone started beeping. She turned it on and read the message that she received from her mother.

"_Gomen," _Miki apologized.

"My mom wants me to go to the market to buy some ingredients for tonight's dinner. Ia and Lily's parents are coming over, that's why," Miki continued.

"_Eh? Hontou?" _Ia and Lily exclaimed, surprised.

"Our parents know each other from work, so they're probably having a business dinner at our house," Miki explained as she got her things ready.

"_Ja, an'nai su—" _Luka proclaimed, standing up.

"It's okay, Megurine-san. I'll take them to the station. I have to go, too, anways," Kaito interrupted to keep Luka from standing up.

Luka felt bad that she couldn't even escort her friends out the door. Kaito was aware that his interrupting Luka was for the best because Miku wouldn't want her friend to stress herself and get sick again. Of course, Kaito didn't want that either.

Luka, Miku, and Gakupo looked out the window to see their friends walk out of the house.

"We'll see you in school, _minna," _Miki waved when she noticed the three of them.

"Get better, Luka-chan!" Ia added.

With a gentle smile, Luka waved back to see them off. Gakupo and Miku also waved to their friends, but Gakupo noticed Kaito staring at Miku. When Gakupo took a peek at Miku, he noticed her teal-blue eyes staring at Kaito, too.

"_Sou ka," _Gakupo thought.

When they could no longer be seen, Miku returned to the _chabudai _to clean up the mess they made. Luka ran to Miku's side to try and help, but to no avail.

"_Dame! _Just rest, Luka-chan," Miku scolded as she placed the saucers, cups, and utensils back on the tray.

While Miku cleaned up, Gakupo closed the window so that the cold, autumn air wouldn't come in and make Luka's condition worse. Though she was only lacking sleep, Luka could still get sick if she stressed herself out. Miku took the tray with her after wiping the table. Since Miku was out, Luka was all alone with Gakupo.

On his way back to his seat, Gakupo passed by Luka's desk and got a better look of what he noticed earlier. Luka, who was tucking herself in her bed, didn't notice that Gakupo was looking at her things. Because Gakupo had noticed it earlier, all he had to do was return to what he was looking at to get a better look.

"Hehh,_" _Gakupo commented, pulling out a flyer tucked in Luka's book.

"You're part of the academics team?" Gakupo asked, even though it was obvious, as if he was teasing her.

"_A-ano! S-s-sore wa…e-etto," _Luka panicked as she fiddled with her fingers.

Her face was brighter and pinker than her hair, and her cheeks were getting warmer. Luka could feel her heart beating faster than ever and she could tell that she was shaking in nervousness and embarrassment by how much she fidgeted with her fingers. Although she wanted to get up to take the flyer from Gakupo, Luka simply couldn't because of how anxious and worried she was.

_ "_That's really amazing," Gakupo commented, reading the flyer.

"_Eh?" _Luka was confused and shocked once again by Gakupo's statement.

"You're really smart, Megurine-san. Does anybody else know about this?" Gakupo interviewed.

Luka shook her head as her reply.

"Even your family?"

Again, Luka shook her head.

Gakupo was surprised that he was the first one to find out about her being in the academics team. He was glad, but he was confused on why Luka was hiding it from everybody.

"I didn't want…to tell anyone…because everyone might think…that I'm lame," Luka revealed as if she read Gakupo's mind.

Upon hearing her answer, Gakupo's laughter bursted out, scaring Luka. The pink-haired girl was already thinking about what Gakupo thought of her. Luka thought that she was going to get ridiculed for joining the academics team, and that she would lose her friends. All of those thoughts scared Luka, causing her tears to begin to form.

"Why would you think that?" Gakupo asked, still giggling.

"_Eh?" _Luka muttered with flushed face.

"This is amazing, Megurine-san! Lame? This isn't lame at all!" Gakupo explained with a wide and friendly smile on his face.

"_Hontou?" _Luka was still skeptical of what Gakupo was saying.

"Yeah! Wait…don't tell me this is the reason why you haven't been getting enough sleep?" Gakupo quickly switched from a jester to a worried parent.

Ashamed, Luka nodded while looking down on her lap to hide her face.

"_Sou ka," _calmly, the purple-haired boy replied.

He walked over to Luka's side after he returned the flyer back to where he found it on Luka's desk. Gently, Gakupo placed his hand on Luka's head to give her a pat, like a kitten.

"I know you're working hard, but that doesn't mean you can forget about yourself, Megurine-san. Also, I think you should tell this to your family and friends. They'll be proud, you know," he said, feeling Luka's soft hair as he stroked her head.

Gakupo's words made Luka feel better and assured. She felt something in her heart, but she was afraid to acknowledge it. Her face wasn't blushing because of embarrassment, but because of happiness. However, her heart was racing for something Luka didn't want to learn about just yet.

"His hand…and voice…they feel so…comforting," Luka thought, enjoying the moment she had with that Gakupo.

Closing her eyes, Luka fell asleep without her knowing. Gakupo was a little surprised that she fell asleep on him as he stroked her, but gently he laid her head down on the pillow. With a satisfied smile on his face, Gakupo softly closed Luka's door.

"_Oyasumi."_

* * *

**Author's note:**

_eh- _"huh"

_urusai- _"you're too loud/be quiet/shut up"

_chabudai- _a short-legged table used in traditional Japanese homes

_mou- _"jeez"

_gomenasai- _"I'm sorry" (formal)

_gomen- _"sorry" (casual)

_hontou- _"really"

_ja, an'nai suru...- _"then, I'll show you out"

_minna- _"everyone"

_sou ka- _"I see"

_dame- _"it's useless"

_ano, sore wa, etto- _"umm, that's, uhh"

_oyasumi- _"have a good rest"


	10. Chapter 10: 'We'll Be Friends Forever'

**Summer's Promise**

Chapter 10: "We'll be friends forever, okay?"

"This is the best!" Ia and Lily exclaimed in synchrony as they dipped their bodies in the hot, steaming water.

Months had passed since the school festival, and the first week of December just kicked in. Since Meiko's and Kiyoteru's classes won first place for the first year students' level, they were given the reward of going to the _onsen_ on the first weekend of December. Their classes left on Friday from the school to the mountains on two buses. They were going to leave on Sunday to get ready for the second week of school in December, which was going to be hectic since the next week after were the final exam for the second term of the year.

While Ia and Lily relaxed in the natural hot spring, Miku and Miki were making Luka's life miserable while they tickled her in the waist. To make it worse, the two girls also kept groping Luka's chest, making her make unnecessary noises. Thanks to the steam, they couldn't really see anything, but since all of them were close, they didn't try to keep their skinship to themselves.

"_Yamete yo, _Miku-chan, Miki-chan!" Luka requested, her face turning red as she tried to hold in her moans.

"Your boobs are so soft and big, Luka-chan!" Miki said, teasing her.

Miku ran her index finger up Luka's spine, making the pink-haired girl's skin tingle.

"You're ticklish everywhere, Luka-chan!" Miku also teased.

"_Mou, yamete!" _Luka requested for the final time.

Except for Luka, all of her friends laughed at her angry, yet cute face. She wasn't mad that their closeness resulted to their openly touching each other, but Luka was frustrated that she couldn't concentrate on scrubbing her body. After finally getting tired of picking on her, Miku and Miki started scrubbing their own body and left Luka alone. Even though she just roared at them, Luka still asked for help from Miku to scrub her back.

"I'm glad Luka-chan's finally comfortable with everyone," Ia told Lily as they thought about the past months they had with Luka.

"She still has stalkers and boys chasing after her, but I don't think she really pays attention to them. After all, she's always focused on her studies," Lily added.

"That's true," Ia agreed.

The two girls lowered their bodies under the hot water, only their noses, eyes, and heads in the surface. They blew bubbles with their mouths that were soaked under the water while they closed their eyes to relax. In their minds, however, was the day Luka told them that she was a part of the academics competition.

* * *

"_Sugoi!"_ all of Luka's friends said.

"_Eh?" _Luka muttered, confused.

"That's amazing! You're a part of the academics competition?" Miku exclaimed, completely amazed.

Luka blushed as she fidgeted with her fingers. Behind her was Gakupo, who helped her talk to her friends about her being a part of the academics competition. Since Gakupo encouraged Luka to do so, he supported her, too.

"B-b-but…don't you think…I-I'm l-lame...or w-weird?" Luka asked, still nervous.

"Of course not! You're so smart that you became a part of the academics team!" Miki also praised.

"It's n-not that big of a deal," Luka mumbled, her face warm.

"Yes, it is! Why didn't you tell us, Luka-chan? Only the smartest people in the school gets to be in the team, you know," Ia informed.

For the rest of the time, Luka's friends showered her with praise and support. Luka, who doubted her friends, felt horrible about herself that she started to cry. Her tears were mixed with happiness that her friends accepted her, and anger on how she thought her friends were shallow. Being the good friends they were, they told Luka that she didn't need to blame herself.

Ever since that day, Luka had been more comfortable with her friends and other people in her school. Luka thanked Gakupo many times because of his kindness, support, and encouragement. Also, because he was the one who helped her cope with the boys that chased after her.

"Just focus on your studies," Gakupo said one day when he found Luka alone in the rooftop.

"If you focus on one thing, everything and everyone, especially your fanboys, will seem little and less important. Of course, you need to set your priorities straight and not forget about yourself and friends," Gakupo continued.

Since that time he helped her, Luka gathered more friends not just from her grade level, but even the upperclassmen and some from the junior high school. Luka did as she was told and kept studies in her head, like how she had always done in the past. This time, however, seemed easier because of her friends' support. Her shyness gradually lessened and Luka was friendlier, though she was still scared of some people at times.

_"Arigatou, minna!" _she bowed, Luka's face red.

She extended her hand out before lifting up her head to face her friends. In her hands were hand-woven bracelets, their colors and charms different.

"What are these?" Miku asked, picking up a teal bracelet with leek charms.

"These are bracelets I made for everyone as a thanks," Luka smiled, picking her head up to sincerely look at her friends.

"That's yours, Miku-chan, because I know you love teal and leek. This is Ia-chan's, being your favorite color peach and black, and for being in love with birds. Since you always match with Ia-chan, I made you a black and gold bracelet with lily as charms, Lily-chan. Miki-chan, I know you love red and cherries, so here's yours. Shion-kun, this is yours because I know you love blue and ice creams. Yours is purple with eggplant charms, Kamui-kun," Luka enthusiastically explained as she distributed the bracelets she made.

"Wow! Now we all have one!" Miku said in excitement.

"What about you, Luka-chan?" Miki asked as she put her bracelet on.

"Of course, I have one, too," Luka smiled as she raised her left hand up to show hers.

It was a pink and brown bracelet, like theirs, with tuna charms. Luka had always been in love with tuna since she was a little girl. Though many people just found them delicious, Luka on the other hand, found them somehow cute.

"We'll be friends forever, okay?" Luka cheerfully assured as they all walked to the train station on their way home.

* * *

"I can't believe we got the bath to ourselves, though," Ia commented after her reminiscing.

Since they didn't really receive a planned schedule, they were allowed to take a bath whenever they wanted. Earlier in the afternoon, many girls were in the bath, so the five of them decided to just tour the area around. After they ate dinner with their classes, the five girls went to the bath to have it all for themselves.

"No, you don't," a voice answered.

"Gakupo! Be quiet!" another voice scolded.

"You're here, too, Kamui and Shion?" Ia roared, putting up a fist.

The outside bath was separated by a green bamboo wall in the center. This separated the boys' bath from the girls' bath, but occasionally, during school field trips, a boy two were always caught peeking at some of the girls. Ia, who thought that Gakupo and Kaito were going to the same thing, kept roaring and splashing the water around in frustration. Lily, on the other hand, tried to calm her down to keep them from disturbing the other people there. Gakupo kept laughing at Ia on the other side of the bath since he wasn't really doing anything. Kaito, tired of their bickering, just leaned on a rock in the bath and tried to enjoy the warmth of the water.

"Shh, Ia-chan!" Miku scolded as she, Luka, and Miki prepared to go in the water after scrubbing their bodies.

Ia did as she was told and continued relaxing to cool down her temper. She closed her eyes to think that nobody was on the other side, even if she could feel Gakupo's snickering at her.

"This is great," Luka smiled, sighing.

For the rest of the evening, all seven of them finally had the chance to relax in peace and quiet. The warm water was perfect for their bodies, chilled by the winter climate. The quiet atmosphere helped clear their minds from thoughts, even just for a short time.

After enjoying their leisure time in the baths, they all decided to meet up in the lounge room, where they could play games without disturbing anyone. There were board games, a pool table, and a Ping-Pong table available in the lounge room. On their way there, Luka braided a small section of her hair out of boredom. Fascinated at how different it looked, Miki asked Luka to braid her hair while everyone else played games.

"It's called a five-strand braid," Luka explained when Miki asked what it was called.

Luka, who was sitting behind Miki, braided her hair like how she wanted it, while Miki watched her friends battle each other in a game of table tennis. Commotions were created when Gakupo decided to be the scorekeeper and paired Miku with Kaito. However, Ia scolded them and got ready to play.

Since Miku and Kaito were nervous around each other, they weren't doing as well as Ia and Lily, whose moves were basically in rhythm. After all, they've been together since childhood. Just as Luka finished Miki's braid, the game ended with a score of 11-4, Ia and Lily being the winners.

"_Kawaii!_" Miku praised, seeing Miki's braided hair.

While the girls were busy admiring Miki's hair, Gakupo grabbed a brush from Miku's purse and handed it to Luka.

"Do you mind brushing my hair, Megurine-san?" Gakupo charmingly asked.

Not really sensing her feelings for Gakupo, Luka eagerly agreed and asked him to sit down in front of her. As she kneeled behind him to match his height, Luka got a closer look of Gakupo for the first time.

"Wow. His hair is so soft," Luka thought, brushing Gakupo's silky, shoulder-length, purple hair.

Luka never really had the opportunity to be up close to Gakupo. If she was, she never really paid attention to how he appeared. However, this time, Luka was able to observe finer details on how Gakupo looked.

Since he was the ace of the _judo _team, Gakupo's muscles were toned and strong. His shoulders were broad, and his skin was fair and smooth. The smell of his cologne was fresh, but not strong to the nose at all. His straight, purple, shoulder-length hair was longer than usual boys' hair, but he could pull it out, maybe because of his charming smile. Luka didn't think Gakupo's hair was thick, too, because he always had it in a half-ponytail tied with a black band. Usually, people would think you were a delinquent if you had Gakupo's hair, but because of his great personality, he seemed more like a prince from Western fairytales.

As Luka ran her fingers through her hair, Gakupo started giggling, surprising her.

"That tickles," he smiled, covering his mouth to keep himself from laughing out loud.

Luka's face turned bright red at the sound of Gakupo's voice. That was another charming thing about Gakupo. Though his voice was deep, he sounded kind and charismatic because of his looks and personality. All the proof that Luka needed on why girls like him was right in front of her.

Without even realizing it, Luka showed a frowning and disappointed face due to the conclusion she came up with in her head. All in all, Luka summarized that she was nothing compared to Gakupo. He was a prince, and she was a peasant. He was the sky, and she was the earth. He was the sun, while she was merely the moon, whose light came from the sun's radiance.

"If it weren't for Gakupo's help," she thought, continuing to slowly brush Gakupo's soft hair.

"I would've probably lost my friends and not even be here with them," Luka finished her thought as she stopped brushing Gakupo's hair.

Luka quietly sighed, knowing that nobody would hear her. However, she was wrong because Gakupo took notice of her frowning face and sigh when he took a peek at Luka through the corner of his eye. Not wanting to worry anyone, Luka returned her smile before anyone else could notice her scowl.

"_Dekimashita yo, _Kamui-kun," Luka announced that Gakupo's hair was done.

"Thank you, Megurine-san," Gakupo smiled as a thanks before he walked away from her to give her some time alone.

After almost half an hour of playing games, simply chatting, or watching Gakupo and Miki bicker, they all finally started yawning and were craving for sleep. Gakupo and Kaito offered to take the girls to their rooms before they went to their rooms. Ia and Lily went ahead of them as they walked down the hallways because they were at their limit.

"We'll see you tomorrow, Gakupo, Kai—I mean, Shion-kun," Miku exclaimed as soon as she realized she had made a mistake.

"Did you almost call Shion-kun 'Kai—" Miki tried to point out.

"_Maa, maa! _Let's go, Miki!" Miku awkwardly smiled with an embarrassed blush on her face as she dragged Miki into their room with her hand covering the red-haired girl's mouth.

Gakupo laughed at her childhood friends as they disappeared into the room. Luka smiled to see that Kaito's face was blushing as he looked away to hide his shy and self-conscious dark-blue eyes.

"We'll be going now, Megurine-san. I hope you get a good rest tonight," Gakupo greeted with a sign of care for the pink-haired girl.

"We'll see you tomorrow, Kamui-kun. Goodnight," Luka coyly smiled with her reply before slowly closing the sliding door.

Gakupo and Kaito returned to the other side of the _onsen _resort where the boys' rooms were located. As soon as they prepared their _futon, _the two lied down and got ready to sleep.

Meanwhile, back at the girls' room, everyone was asleep but Luka. Her eyes were still wide awake as she stared at the _tatami _ceiling. Luka's mind felt blank, but that was because everything raced around in her head. She couldn't keep her eyes closed, but she found a solution.

Silently getting up after taking Miki's arm off of her, Luka walked out of their room back to the lounge. There, she sat back down on the bench where she brushed Gakupo's violet tresses. She thought about a lot of things, which kept the frown on her face.

All of a sudden, after closing her eyes to think deeper, Luka felt something cold touch her cheeks, causing her to jump and shriek. When she turned to see what it was, she found Gakupo holding two canned drinks.

"Kamui-kun?" she wondered why he was there, her eyes widened in shock.

"Can't sleep?" he asked, sitting down next to Luka.

With a nod, Luka replied as she spilled a bit of her long face. She still kept the smile on her face, but it seemed as if she was in pain to have it on.

"Same here," Gakupo answered to her nod.

Gakupo handed Luka the canned drink, opening his, afterwards. Sipping some, he tilted his head back and gulped some of the drink down his throat.

"Green tea?" Luka wondered when she saw the label of the aluminum can, confused on why Gakupo gave her that.

"It's good for you. Not only will it help you fall asleep, but it's also very good. It's cold green tea, yes, but it's still really good. Oh, and I also love this drink! I don't really know why, but it's a habit for me to drink this after school now," Gakupo kept talking as if he was in a different world.

Luka was surprised of how much Gakupo was talking. Whenever she would see him in the hallways, he was always only saying what the girls that surrounded him wanted to hear. However, Gakupo was surprisingly talkative with Luka.

Not being able to hold it any longer, Luka started laughing while holding her stomach. Gakupo stopped talking about his love for cold green tea and stared at Luka.

"Finally," he muttered out of nowhere with a hint of relief in his smile and indigo eyes.

"_Eh?" _Luka sounded, confused again.

"Oh, well you looked down earlier, so I was worried," Gakupo shyly answered, rubbing the back of his head, like what a typical, shy high school boy would do if they were talking to a cute girl.

Luka's mind was cleared of thoughts that bothered her earlier. She felt at ease and relieved of worry, even though her face looked shock.

"Kamui-kun was worried…about me?" Luka thought.

"Is that how you knew I was back here?" Luka voiced her thought differently and asked Gakupo.

"Yeah," Gakupo shyly, yet honestly replied.

Luka pushed the tab of the canned drink down to open it and stared at the hole she had created. She took a tiny sip and found the drink delicious. Gakupo, who watched her every move, felt tensed and nervous because Luka didn't say anything. He thought that, maybe, she found him weird for following her. However, in contrast to what he thought, Luka smiled as she wiped the condensed water on the rim of the aluminum can.

"_Arigatou gozaimasu, _Kamui-kun."

* * *

**Author's note:**

_onsen- _hot springs

_yamete yo/yamete- _"stop it/stop"

_mou- _"jeez"

_sugoi- _"amazing"

_eh- _"huh"

_arigatou/arigatou gozaimasu-_ "thank you"

_minna-_ "everyone"

_kawaii- _"cute"

_dekimashita yo- _"it's done"

_maa- _"well"

_futon- _Japanese style bedding

_tatami- _mat made of rice straws


	11. Chapter 11: 'It's the Past, After All'

**Summer's Promise**

Chapter 11: "It's the past, after all."

The next day, Luka and her friends decided to do some more touring. Since they had already explored downtown yesterday, they chose to go to the shrine near the top of the mountain.

"No," Meiko replied, drinking her morning tea.

"_Eh? _Why?" the girls, except for Luka and Gumi, whined after begging their advisor.

"You need to have an adult with you."

"But yesterday, we weren't with anybody!" Ia protested.

"You were just in town. The hike to the top of the mountain is dangerous," Meiko continued to sip her tea.

"Why don't we go with them then, Sakine-sensei?"

Meiko spitted the tea she just sipped, the droplets fanning over the table to hear the statement from someone she didn't want to hear in such an early morning. The girls that surrounded her all jumped back in shock to see the mist of tea that sprinkled all over the table. Meiko, whose eyes had gone irritated, roughly turned her head, like a gear that needs lubrication. Her eyes were blinded to see the glowing Kiyoteru Hiyama standing by the door.

"H-Hiyama-sensei? You do know that we can't leave the kids unsupervised here in the _onsen, _too, right?" Meiko painfully smiled a bogus grin.

"I already talked to the staff and they're fine with supervising them," the charming teacher beamed at Meiko.

"Damn you, Kiyoteru. You planned this all along, didn't you?" Meiko thought, looking to the side to hide her suspicious eyes.

After she finished wiping the mess she made on the table, Meiko stood up and sighed to reveal that she and the other teacher will accompany them. All the girls, especially Luka, were all grateful to Kiyoteru, while Gakupo and Kaito smiled to see that the girls were all happy.

In less than an hour, all ten of them got ready and left the hot spring resort. Before they began their hike to the top, they visited the small convenient store by the resort to buy food and drinks, and get a map of the trail to the shrine. When they looked at the simple, yet artistic map that the villagers there had prepared, they realized that the walk wouldn't be too long or too hard. They were, however, reminded to be careful because anything can happen, especially during the winter.

The hike to the shrine was easy and a little difficult at the same time. Due to the winter season, the trees were a bunch of sticks that just jutted out of the ground. This made it easier for them to see the path to the shrine, and not have to struggle to look at the scenery from where they were. The view from the top was somewhat beautiful, though the whole mountain looked bald. The soil was a little wet and there were a few large and small patches of snow, glistening under the faint light from the sun hiding behind the dark clouds.

On their hike, they all formed smaller groups instead of clumping in a big one. Also, the people in their groups matched their strides and steps, so it was easier for them to keep up with each other. Luka, Miku, and Miki walked together; Ia, Lily, and Gumi walked together, talking about their years together in elementary school; Gakupo and Kaito looked out for the two groups of girls; Meiko and Kiyoteru were together.

"Isn't it nice out here, Meiko-chan?" Kiyoteru smiled as he looked at the view from the top.

"Don't call me that, Hiyama!" Meiko complained, clenching her fist as she kept walking to leave Kiyoteru.

"Why not?" he asked as he ran to follow Meiko.

"You planned this, didn't you?"

"No, not at all. The kids are adventurous, let's just say that. You didn't answer me, yet, though?"

"I don't have to answer you, _baka! _You already know the answer!" Meiko turned around after getting annoyed of Kiyoteru's jolly tone of voice.

"Are you still mad at me from that time?"

"N-no! That was in the past! I'm not immature like you!" Meiko's face blushed when she was reminded of her past with Kiyoteru.

"Hehh…" the girls commented, their faces showing suspicion and mischief, when they heard Meiko and Kiyoteru's argument.

"You two have a 'past' together?" Ia smiled as if she was planning something evil to the two teachers.

"N-no!" Meiko immediately replied.

Kiyoteru, who stood behind Meiko, tried to say something but was interrupted when he felt Meiko's fury.

"L-let's just keep walking, children," Kiyoteru awkwardly smiled as he continued to hike up.

They finally reached the shrine as the afternoon came. They spent a few minutes praying at the main hall, and made their way to get their fortunes afterwards.

"I wonder why Luka-chan got a bad fortune," Miki worried when she took a glance at Luka's fortune.

"Woah! I got a great fortune!" Gakupo exclaimed as he pulled his fortune out.

"Shouldn't Luka-chan have that?" Miki pouted with both hands on her hips.

"I-it's okay, Miki-chan. It's not a big deal," Luka awkwardly smiled.

After learning more about the shrine's history, the group made their way back to the resort to relax.

When they arrived back at the resort, it was almost sunset. They made it back in time before it got dark, though they took longer to come down because they had to look for safer paths that didn't have slippery snow or soil. The boys and girls separated to their rooms and got ready to take a dip in the bath.

"Why aren't there anybody here, Meiko-sensei?" Lily asked as they entered the warm water after her sigh of relief.

"Everyone in both classes are over at the game lounge, playing a table tennis tournament," Meiko said, placing the towel on top of her head.

"We have the baths to ourselves again, huh," Miki smiled.

Luka just finished scrubbing her body, and on her way to get in the water, Meiko opened her eyes and saw Luka's gorgeous body.

"Luka-chan, you're so sexy!" Meiko teased, even whistling.

The other girls pitched in and began to tease the pink-haired girl, making her blush and get shy.

Meanwhile, on the other side of the bamboo wall that was dividing the outside bath from the girls to the boys, were Gakupo, Kaito, and Kiyoteru. Gakupo's and Kaito's faces were also as red as Luka's cheeks, both because of embarrassment and thoughts that a normal teenager would have.

"Don't even think about it. Meiko will know, especially if it's about one of her students," Kiyoteru gave both the two boys a pat on their shoulders, the meanings apology and good luck.

"Did you just call Meiko-sensei by her first name?" the two boys stopped, pointing out the unusual.

"Didn't you two just do the same?" Kiyoteru tried to return their doubt back to them by asking them the same question, but unfortunately, the boys were a little smarter.

"That's because we're close to her, like how the girls on the other side call her 'Meiko-sensei' because they're close to her," Gakupo pointed out.

"Yeah, like we call you 'Kiyoteru-sensei.' Plus, there was '-sensei' in the end," Kaito added.

The two boys were intrigued and curious as soon as Kiyoteru began to move away from the boys. As he placed his towel on top of his head, Gakupo and Kaito began to question their teacher.

"Just tell us the truth," Gakupo and Kaito pried.

"I've known him since we were ten, that's all," Meiko, who was also interviewed by the girls due to their curiosity of what happened earlier on their way to the shrine, replied groggily.

The two teachers had to talk about their past with each other to their students. They weren't too comfortable, but they knew what and what not to release. Meiko and Kiyoteru, too, were glad that they were going to share it with the students they were closest to.

"She wasn't always the type of woman that she is right now," Kiyoteru described Meiko when they were still in 5th grade.

"Meiko-sensei was a cry baby and a girly girl?!" the girls exclaimed to hear from Meiko.

"What are you girls trying to say, _kora!" _Meiko roared while holding up a fist, making the girls laugh.

"But Kiyoteru was always there for me…He was my best friend," Meiko described Kiyoteru with a look that suggested to the girls that she thought of him more.

Unknown to both of the groups that they were talking about their teachers' past, Kiyoteru and Meiko held the same looks on their faces. They were both distant, as if returning back to the past. Though they looked nostalgic, the two adults looked pained to try and remember what happened before.

"Well, let's go, boys," Kiyoteru said, getting up after a sigh to get out of the water.

"What do you mean, Meiko-sensei?" the girls all whined to hear that Meiko wasn't going to continue.

"Are you not going to tell us everything?" the boys asked Kiyoteru.

"Of course not!" Meiko roared again.

"It's adult business," Kiyoteru added to Meiko's statement, though he didn't know what she said.

Meiko and Kiyoteru turned around to the entrance of the bath at the same time, hiding their true expressions from their students. They looked down on the ground, clenching their fists and walking away from their students. The emotions they held in their hearts were something they didn't want to tell their students just yet, even to the ones that are close to them.

"It's the past, after all," they both thought as they went back in to get dressed.

* * *

That same night, Luka and Gakupo met at the lounge once again at the same time they encountered each other the other night. They began their meeting with buying the cold, canned green tea, which was what they did the night before. Gakupo started off with jokes that set off the mood into a good beginning, especially since Luka was starting to let her frown spill again.

"I'm glad you're smiling again," Gakupo smiled in relief, looking at the rim of his drink.

"Thanks again, Kamui-kun," Luka also smiled back, but it was unknown to her that her cheeks were flushed.

"A smile really suits you, Megurine-san," the purple-haired boy turned to Luka.

Luka felt something in her heart that she had never felt before. She could feel her cheeks getting warmer and her heart beating faster. The girl, who had no clue what she was feeling, felt as if she was drowning in Gakupo's eyes and smile, making her feel a little nervous.

"Th-thank you, Kamui-kun!" Luka exclaimed, drinking her tea down after making the conclusion from the feelings she had that it was hot.

The lounge was quiet for a while as they thought of something to talk about, looking at their drinks or around the room. After a few minutes of silence, which felt like hours to the two of them, Luka grabbed all her courage to speak up and break the quiet.

"By the way, Kamui-kun, did you know that Meiko-sensei had a past with Kiyoteru-sensei?" Luka nervously said, holding onto her drink a little tighter as the water on the can trickled down to her fingers.

"Oh, he talked about that earlier, too!"

"She told us that she had known Kiyoteru-sensei since they were ten years old."

Their conversation went from talking about what their teachers revealed to them. Since Meiko and Kiyoteru didn't really disclose a lot of information, their conversation about their teachers' past was short. This didn't stop the two of them, though, to think of things that might've happen to the two of them. Luka told Gakupo that whenever Meiko heard Kiyoteru's name or see him in the halls, she would always roll her eyes and get annoyed, taking a whole period to return back to the cheerful teacher that Meiko was. Gakupo revealed to Luka that Kiyoteru didn't really talk about Meiko a lot, but when he does, he'd always look a little happy and hurt at the same time.

"Their past is so intriguing," Gakupo commented, finishing his drink.

He got up to throw his trash away, coming back to a gloomy-looking Luka, who dozed off while staring at the floor.

"Megurine-san," Gakupo thought, worried.

"Cheer up, you," the purple-haired boy said.

All of a sudden, Luka felt her cheeks getting pulled apart. Though it didn't really hurt, Luka was shocked when she looked up to see Gakupo. In just a brief second, she noticed that Gakupo looked hurt, though he was the one hurting her with his pinching her cheeks.

"_Gomenasai, _Kamui-san," Luka apologized after Gakupo let go.

She rubbed her cheeks with her hands, still looking depressed. Gakupo noticed this even if she quickly showed her awkward smile. He raised his hand and placed it on top of Luka's head, patting it.

"Great job, Megurine-san," Gakupo softly smiled with a hint of worry and care.

"_Eh?"_

"I'm glad you're getting closer to everyone. You're less shy than you were, too," Gakupo sat back down beside Luka.

"How did you know?"

"Well, I've just noticed that you started calling our teachers by their first names, which is something that only the students that are close to them do."

"Now, that you mentioned it, everyone but us are calling them by their first names, huh," Luka just noticed.

To Gakupo's amusement, he began to laugh even though he was trying to hold it in. Luka's face was blushing at first, but she laughed with him and they were just laughing together.

"You two are still awake?"

Luka and Gakupo stopped laughing right away to see Gumi.

"Oh, Gumi. You're still awake?" Gakupo commented.

"Aren't you supposed to be asleep? If Sakine-sensei and Kiyoteru-sensei find out you two are here, we'll all get in trouble, you know," the green-haired girl warned as she dropped coins into the vending machine to get her a can of cold green tea.

"_Baka. _You're here, too, aren't you?" Gakupo got up to lightly flick Gumi's forehead.

"_Ita—mou, _Gakupo!"

Gumi began to chase Gakupo around the table tennis, both laughing joyfully. Luka was happy to see a cute sight, but she felt something in her heart that was similar to what she had felt before. It was new, but familiar. It was the same as what she felt when her friends from her hometown didn't want to talk to her on the web, but the feeling she was having was still a little different.

"_Yamero, _Gumi!" Gakupo laughed non-stop while Gumi tickled him on the waist.

"Their relationship is so nice," Luka thought, quietly smiling.

"They're close enough to call them by their first names."

Luka didn't even realize that she was dozing off again, remembering her past with her friends in her hometown. When she looked up after hearing her name getting called, Luka found Gumi standing by her.

"Megurine-san, let's go. I already shooed Gakupo away, so we should head to back to our rooms," Gumi friendly smiled.

"Aren't you going to finish your drink first, Nakajima-san?" Luka said, pointing at the opened can.

"Oh, right!"

Gumi sat down with her and they both continued drinking their green tea. Luka and Gumi aren't really close to each other, since Gumi rarely came into their classroom, unlike Gakupo and Kaito. Luka felt awkward being with the lime-haired girl because of many things.

"She's so pretty," Luka observed, taking a peek through the corner of her eye.

"Let me guess. Gakupo was drinking this, wasn't he?" Gumi asked out of nowhere, surprising Luka.

"Oh! Uh, yes! He was," immediately, Luka answered.

Gumi began to laugh, unknown to Luka as to why. The pink-haired girl was amazed at Gumi's gorgeousness, even her laugh was cute to Luka. Outside, Luka didn't show it, but she definitely felt as if her confidence lowered. She remembered just how popular Gumi was at her school, even all the upperclassmen knew who Gumi Nakajima was. Most of Gumi's friends were also upperclassmen, always getting confessions from them, too. The girls didn't really hate Gumi, though a few of them were jealous of her popularity.

"I'm surprised he still drinks this. He used to hate it when we were in junior high, but I'm glad he's learned to like it," Gumi revealed the reason behind her laughter.

"I guess you could say that I introduced this to Gakupo."

Gumi got up to throw away her trash, while Luka felt more mysterious pangs of hurt in her heart. Before Gumi could notice it, Luka got up and masked her pained expression away.

"Let's go," Gumi said after Luka threw her trash away.

"It must be nice," Luka thought, thinking about everything that had happened that day, from Meiko and Kiyoteru's history to Gakupo and Gumi's small snippet of their junior year.

"To have such great pasts."

* * *

**Author's notes:**

_eh- _"huh"

_onsen- _hot springs

_baka_- "stupid"

_kora- _"hey" (often used when angry)

_gomenasai- _"I'm sorry" (formal)

_ita— (itai)- _"ouch"

_mou- _"jeez"

_yamero- _"stop" (masculine)


End file.
